LIBRARY  OF  THE  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 

PRINCETON,     N.    J. 

Presented  by 

"TheWiolovA^    of  GreoY-peDiAd'^n^     ?t 

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Seciion.\}rrT...L\  ^ 


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I 

COMMENTARY 


ON    THE 


HOLY    SCRIPTURES: 

CRITICAL.  DOCTRINAL,  AND  HOMILETICAL. 

WITH  SPECIAL  REFERENCE  TO  MINISTERS  AND  STUDENTS 

BT 

JOHISr   PETER '1,AKGE,  D.  D., 

OKDINAKT  PROriBSOB  OF  THEOLOGY  IN  THE  UNrVBRSITT  OP   BOOTI, 
IS  CVWSBUnOK   WITH   A    KUMBKB  OF   EHUnUIT   KCROPKAIT  DITOTa 

TRANSLATED,   ENLARGED,   AND  EDITED 


PHILIP   SOHAFF,  D.  D., 

PBOFESSOR   OF  THKOLOGY   IN  THE  UNION   THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY.   NEW   YORK, 
IX    OOmntCTION     with     AMKBICAJI     SOHOT^ARS     of     VARIOP8     BVANOKLICAL     DEMOMUATIOVS. 


?0».RME  XIV.  nv  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT:  CONTAINING  THE  MINOR  PR0PHET8' 


Is'EW  YUKiv: 
CHARLES    SCRIBNER'S    SUNS, 

1899 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2010  with  funding  from 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


http://www.archive.org/details/bookofobadiah145klei 


THK 


MINOE  PROPHETS 


KXEGETICALLY,  THEOLOGICALLY.   AND   HOMILETICALLY 


EXPOUJSTDED 


PAUL   KLEINERT,   OTTO   SCHMOLLER, 

GEORGE   R.  BLISS,  TALBOT  W.  CHAMBERS,   CHARLES  ELLIOTT, 

JOHN   FORSYTH,  J.  FREDERICK   McCURDY,   AND 

JOSEPH    PACKARD. 


EDITED  BY 

PHILIP   SCHAFF,  D.  D. 


NEW   YORK: 

CHARLES     SCRIBNER'R    SONS, 

1699 


SMered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1874,  t^ 

ScRiBNER,  Armstrong,  and  Company, 
IB  tile  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  WashincUM. 


Trow's 
Printing  and  Bookbinding  Company, 
205-213   /iasi  inik  St., 

new     YORK. 


PREFACE  BY  THE   GENERAL  EDITOR 


The  volume  on  the  Minor  Prophets  is  partly  in  advance  of  the  German  original, 
which  has  not  yet  reached  the  three  post-exilian  Prophets.  The  commentaries  on  the  nin« 
earlier  Prophets  by  Professors  Kleinert  and  Schmoller  appeared  in  separate  numberi 
some  time  ago  ^ ;  but  for  Haggai,  Zechariah,  and  Malachi,  Dr.  Lange  has  not,  to  this  date, 
been  able  to  secure  a  suitable  co-laborer.^  With  his  cordial  approval  I  deem  it  better  to 
complete  the  volume  by  original  commentaries  than  indefinitely  to  postpone  the  publication. 
They  were  prepared  by  sound  and  able  scholars,  in  conformity  with  the  plan  of  the  whole 
work. 

The  volume  accordingly  contains  the  following  parts,  each  one  being  paged  separately :  — 

1.  A  General  Introduction  to  the  Prophets,  especially  the  Minor  Prophets,  by 
Rev.  Charles  Elliott,  D.  D.,  Professor  of  Biblical  Exegesis  in  Chicago,  Illinois.  Th« 
general  introductions  of  Kleinert  and  Schmoller  are  too  brief  and  incomplete  for  our  purpose, 
and  therefore  I  requested  Dr.  Elliott  to  prepare  an  independent  essay  on  the  subject. 

2.  HosEA.  By  Rev.  Dr.  Otto  Schmoller.  Translated  from  the  German  and  en- 
larged by  James  Frederick  McCurdy,  M.  A.,  of  Princeton,  N.  J. 

3.  Joel.  By  Otto  Schmoller.  Translated  and  enlarged  by  Rev.  John  Forsyth, 
D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Chaplain  and  Professor  of  Ethics  and  Law  in  the  United  States  Military 
Academy,  West  Point,  N.  Y. 

4.  Amos.  By  Otto  Schmoller.  Translated  and  enlarged  by  Rev.  Talbot  W 
Chambers,  D.  D.,  Pastor  of  the  Collegiate  Reformed  Dutch  Church,  New  York. 

5.  Obadiah.  By  Rev.  Paul  Kleinert,  Professor  of  Old  Testament  Theology  in  the 
University  of  Berlin.  Translated  and  enlarged  by  Rev.  George  R.  Bliss,  D.  D.,  Professor 
in  the  University  of  Lewisburg,  Pennsylvania. 

6.  Jonah.  By  Prof.  Paul  Kleinert,  of  the  University  of  Berlin.  Translated  and  en- 
larged by  Rev.  Charles  Elliott,  Professor  of  Biblical  Exegesis  in  Chicago.' 

7.  MiCAH.  By  Prof.  Paul  Kleinert,  of  Berlin,  and  Prof.  George  R.  Bliss,  of  Lewis- 
burg. 

8.  Nahum.     By  Prof  Paul  Kleinert,  of  Berlin,  and  Prof.  Chablks  Elliott,  of 

Chicago. 

9.  Habakkuk.     By  Professors  Kleinert  and  Elliott. 

1  Obadjah,  Jonah,  Mieha,  Nahum,  Habakuk,  Zephanja/i.  Wissenshafilieh  undfUr  den  Oebraueh  der  Kirch*  aiugeUgt  «M 
Paul  Kleinbbt,  Pfaner  zu  St.  Gertraud  und  a.  Professor  an  der  Universitdt  zu  Berlin,  Bielefeld  u.  Leipzig,  1868.  —  iK» 
Propketen  Hosea,  Joel  und  Amos.  Theologiseh-homiletisch  bearbtitet  von  Otto  Sohmoheb,  Lieent.  der  Theologie,  Diaeonui 
m  Uraeh.  Bielef.  und  Leipzig,  1872. 

2  Tlie  eommentary  of  Rev.  W.  Psbssel  on  these  three  Propheta  (Die  naehtxUisehen  Propheten,  Gotha,  1870)  WM 
erigUuOly  prepared  for  Lange's  Bible-work,  but  was  rejected  by  Dr.  Lange  mainly  on  accoxmt  of  PresBel's  views  on  th* 
genuineness  and  integrity  of  Zechariah.  It  was,  however,  independently  pubUshed,  and  was  made  use  of;  like  other 
eommentaries,  by  the  authors  of  the  respective  sections  in  this  volume. 

8  Dr.  Elliott  desires  to  render  liia  acltnowledgments  to  the  Rev.  Reuben  Dederiok,  of  Chicago,  and  the  Bev.  Jaeok 
liOtke,  of  Faribault,  Minnesota,  for  valuable  assistance  in  tranfllatinR  some  difficult  paanges  in  Kteintrfl  0(»mnantuiM 
■D  Jonah,  Nahum,  and  Habakkuk. 


PREFACE   BY   THE   GENERAL  EDIT(»R. 


10.  Zephaniah.     By  Professors  Kleinert  and  Elliott. 

11.  Haggai.     By  James  Fkedkrick  McCurdy,  M.  A.,  Princeton,  N.  J. 

12.  ZECHARLA.H  By  Rev.  Talbot  W.  Chambers,  D.  D.,  New  York.  (See  special 
preface.) 

13.  Malachi.  By  Rev.  Joseph  Packard,  D.  D.,  Professor  of  Biblical  Literature  in 
the  Theological  Seminary  at  Alexandria,  Virginia. 

The  contributors  to  this  volume  were  directed  carefully  to  consult  the  entire  ancient  and 
modern  literature  on  the  Minor  Prophets  and  to  enrich  it  with  the  latest  results  of  Grcrman 
and  Anglo-American  scholarship. 

The  remaining  parts  of  the  Old  Testament  are  all  under  way,  and  will  be  published  af 
fast  as  the  nature  of  the  work  will  permit. 

PHILIP   SCHAFF. 

DmoB  Thsoiookuj   Sbmsa-w,  Nirw  YoH.  .  i^-aorv,  1874. 


THE  ' 


BOOK  OF  OBADIAH. 


EXPOUNDED 


y 

PAUL  KLEINERT, 

Pmoa  AT  3T.  QKBTRAUD,  AND  PROFESSOR  OF  OLD  TESTAMENT  THBOLOOT  IN  THI 
UNIVERSITY  OF   BBRLIN 


TMAN8LATED  FROM  THE  GERMAN,    WITH  ADDfTfOlTB, 


GEORGE  R  BLISS,  D.  D., 

MOfBSaOR  IN  THE   UNIVBRSITr  AT  LKWTSBUBa.   PHini 


NEW  YORK: 
CHARLES     SCRIBNER'kS     SONS, 


■tared  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1874,  ty 

ScotiBMER,  Armstrong,  and  Compant, 
I  tb»  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Waahingtoa. 


OBADIAH. 


INTRODUCTION. 

Of  the  luthor  of  the  brief  prophecy  concerning  the  doom  of  Edom,  which  those  who  ar- 
ranged the  Canon  have  inserted  between  Amos  and  Jonah,  we  really  know,  with  certainty, 
nothing  except  the  name.  This  is  read  by  the  Masorah  as  Obadiah  [rr^7537],  L  e.,  Servant 
of  Jehovah,  a  proper  name  frequently  met  with,  and  which  was  borne  also  by  a  respectable 
Zebulonite  of  the  time  of  Saul  (1  Chr.  xxvii.  19),  a  major-domo  of  Aljab  (1  K.  xviii.  3),  a 
Levite  under  Josiah  (2  Chr.  xxxiv.  12),  and  several  heads  of  post-exilian  houses.  There  is, 
therefore,  no  ground  for  holding  it,  with  Augusti  and  Kiiper,  as  a  symbolic  pseudonym 
That,  however,  the  pronunciation  of  the  name  offered  by  the  Masoretes  was  not  universal  in 
the  earliest  times,  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  the  LXX.  give  for  it,  in  different  places,  not 
only  Obdias,  but  Abdias,  Audias,  etc.^  What  Jewish  traditions  report  concerning  the  man  bears 
the  stamp  of  conjectm-e,  or  of  fanciful  invention.  The  oldest  of  these  traditions  identifies 
him  with  the  chief  courtier  of  Ahab,  refei-red  to  above,  probably  because  he  is  mentioned  1  K. 
xviii.  3  as  a  very  pious  man,  but  in  so  doing  overlooks  the  fact  that  our  prophecy  grows  not 
out  of  the  circumstances  of  the  ten  tribes,  but  entu'ely  out  of  Jerusalem.  The  others  are 
still  more  capricious. 

To  deternune  the  time  of  the  prophecy,  we  are  left,  therefore,  simply  to  its  contents,  to  its 
relations  with  the  other  prophets,  and  to  the  historical  accounts  of  the  Old  Testament. 

The  situation  in  which  the  prophet  stands  is  shown  principally  in  ver.  10  fF.,  since  vers. 
1-9  contain  mere  prophecy  ("  in  that  day,"  ver.  8).  Jerusalem  is  distressed  by  a  hostile  inva- 
sion, strangers  have  entered  into  her  gates  (ver.  11  c),  have  plundered  and  ravaged,  so  that 
the  population  have  betaken  themselves  to  a  wild  flight  (ver.  14  b,  c),  have  carried  otf 
many  treasures  (ver.  11  b),  and  divided  the  inhabitants  among  them  by  lot  (ver.  11  d),  to 
sell  them  as  slaves  to  distant  peoples  (ver.  20  c).  The  Edomites  have  not  only  exhibited 
an  unbrotherly  and  malignant  delight  in  these  transactions  (vers.  12;  10  a;  13  b),  but 
have  actively  taken  part  in  them  (ver.  11  e),  have  shared  in  the  invasion  of  the  city  (ver. 
13  a),  in  the  plundering  (ver.  13  c),  and  the  mad  revelry  which  followed  (ver.  16  a),  have 
lain  in  wait  for  the  fugitives  when  they  escaped  from  the  city,  and  slain  them  in  part,  in  part 
delivered  them  up  to  slavery  (ver.  14).  The  catastrophe  which  the  prophet  threatens  in 
vers.  1-9,  is  the  punishment  of  Edom  for  these  deeds  (ver.  10),  and  with  this  is  linked  the 
restitution  of  Israel  (vers.  17-21). 

From  this  description  it  is  obvious  that  the  circumstances  were  such  as  presented  them- 
selves after  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  by  Nebuchadnezzar.  That  the  conduct  of  Edom  ia 
relation  to  that  catastrophe  was  thoroughly  hostile,  and  closely  similar  to  what  is  here  de- 
picted (ver.  11  if.),  is  pi'oved  by  the  prophecies  occasioned  by  that  conduct  (Ezek.  xxxv. 
and  Is.  Ixiii.).  We  might,  therefore,  regard  the  prophet  as  a  contemporary  of  this  event 
(Aben  Ezra,  Luther,  Calovius,  Tarnovius,  Ch.  V.  and  J.  D.  Michaelis,  De  Wette, 
Knobel,  Maurer,  Winer,  Hendewerk"),  or  as  one  of  the  later  Epigoni  of  prophecy  (Ilitzig, 
an  Egyptian  Jew,  cir.  312  B.  c).  And  undoubtedly  we  must  prefer  this  reference  of  our 
prophecy  to  every  other,  if  it  were  true,  as  Hitzig  maintains,  that  in  the  first  ten  verses  of  his 
discourse,  Obadiah  makes  use  of,  nay,  simply  paraphrases  the  strikingly  similar  language  of 
Jeremiah  (chap.  xlix.  7  flF.)  against  Edom.  It  is  easy,  in  this  view,  to  regard  precisely  those 
peculiar  features  in  which  Obadiah  excels  Jeremiah  (ver.  11  flf.),  as  called  forth  by  the  imme- 
diate impression  of  the  catastrophe,  which  Jeremiah  had   not  yet  before  his  eyes :  for  h« 

1  ['A^gia,  [O/SSt'a].  A^Seia,  A^oSia.  —  Te.]  »  fCowIes  — Tb.1 


4  OBADIAH. 

spoke  liis  prophecy  in  the  fourth  year  of  Jehoiakim,  and  therefore  before  the  destraction  of 
Jerusalem  (of.  Caspari,  p.  15  ff.). 

Nevertheless,  concerning  this  use  of  Jeremiah  by  Obadiah,  precisely  the  contrary  is  to  be 
believed.  Against  it  speaks  at  once  the  circumstance,  that  this  very  series  of  announce- 
ments in  Jeremiah  concerning  foreign  lands  to  which  the  passage  xlix.  7  ff.  belongs,  shows 
not  merely  a  constant  use  of  earlier  prophecies,  but  that  Jeremiah  repeatedly  applies  earlier 
prophecies,  with  free  reproduction  and  expansion,  to  present  occasions.  So  the  prophecy 
against  Moab,  Is.  xv.,  xvi.,  in  chap,  xlviii, ;  the  prophecies  in  Am.  i.  13  ff.,  viii.  ff.,  in  chap.  xlix.  1 
ff.,  23  ff.  Thus  he  has,  in  some  sense  out  of  his  own  itova-i'a,  on  the  principle  that  prophecy 
is  spoken  for  all  time  and  therefore  must  be  applicable  also  to  the  ever-recurring  present. 
compiled,  in  this  series  of  chapters,  a  canon  of  ancient  prophecy  for  his  own  time.  And  if. 
in  all  these  passages,  it  is  undeniable  that  Jeremiah  has  availed  himself  of  older  prophecies 
should  he  in  just  the  one  before  us  be  the  original,  and  Obadiah  have  borrowed  from  him  ? 

This  presumption  against  Hitzig's  view  rises  to  certainty  when  we  more  carefully  com- 
pare the  two  predictions.  "  On  comparing  the  two  common  sections  with  each  other,  we 
find  that  in  Obadiah  partly  shorter  and  more  rapid,  partly  heavier  and  more  abrupt,  partly 
more  clear  and  lively  than  in  Jeremiah  "  (Caspari).  It  cannot  be  denied  that  the  crucea 
interpretum  offered  by  Obadiah,  especially  in  vers.  3,  5,  appear  in  Jeremiah  smoothed  down, 
and  that  the  solitary  difficulty  which  Jeremiah  has  beyond  Obadiah  in  the  word  Tjri!jb3n 
(chap.  xlix.  16),  as  against  the  numerous  obscurities  peculiar  to  the  latter,  is  of  no  account. 
But  it  is  contrary  to  all  hermeneutical  procedure  to  suppose  that  a  later  writer,  in  regard  to 
a  situation  meanwhile  explained,  should  have  still  darkened  the  clear  language  of  the  earlier 
one,  while,  on  the  contrary,  it  is  a  common  and  explainable  occurrence,  that  the  obscure 
prophecy  of  antiquity  should,  in  the  hands  of  the  subsequent  seer,  who  is  at  the  same  time 
highly  skilled  in  discourse,  become  more  flowing  and  more  clear.  Some,  to  escape  this  ar- 
gument, feign  that  the  obscurities  of  Obadiah  are  indications  of  an  atomistic  compilation, 
from  a  point  of  view  arbitrarily  chosen,  without  force  and  without  definiteness  ;  but  the  exege- 
sis of  the  book  will  have  to  show  that  his  discourse  is  one  which  bears  a  single  burden,  is 
animated  by  one  independent  soul. 

The  comparison  with  Jeremiah  is,  therefore,  of  no  value  toward  the  more  accurate  deter- 
mination of  the  age  of  our  prophet.  On  the  other  hand,  we  have  the  positive  circumstance 
that  the  inner  relationship  places  his  prophecy  entirely  within  the  circle  of  view  of  those 
prophets  among  whom  the  collectors  of  the  Canon  have  placed  it,  that  is,  the  oldest.  Ot 
the  great  monarchies  of  the  world  Obadiah  knows  nothing.  The  enemies  who  have  invaded 
Jerusalem  are  to  him  simply  foreigners  and  strangers  (ver.  11),  and  besides  the  Edomites 
he  names  none  except  the  Philistines  (ver.  19),  and  the  Phoenicians  (ver.  20),  both  of  whom 
appear  in  Joel  (iv.  4),  as  enemies  of  the  kingdom.  Aram  is  not  so  much  as  once  men- 
tioned, so  that  his  horizon  is  still  narrower  than  that  of  Amos.  The  two  kingdoms  are  hi 
existence  standing  firmly  side  by  side.  The  southern  one  consists  of  the  tribes  of  Judah 
(which  inhabits  the  Negeb  and  the  lowland)  and  Benjamin  (ver.  19)  ;  the  northern  (Ephraiiii 
and  Gilead)  must  yet  be  possessed,  that  a  united  kingdom  may  arise,  one  army  of  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel  (vers.  19,  20,  cf.  Hos.  ii.  2).  The  captives  of  Jerusalem  are  not  carried  away 
to  the  east,  but  are  sold  as  slaves  into  the  west,  precisely  as  in  Joel ;  to  the  Javan  (Ionia) 
of  Joel  corresponds  the  Sepharad  (Sparta)  of  Obadiah  (ver.  20).  Tlie  middlemen,  who 
have  made  traffic  of  these  slaves,  are  doubtless  the  same  as  those  named  in  Am.  i.  9 ;  Jofl 
iv.  6,  the  Phoenicians,  whom  Obadiah  also  (ver.  20)  expressly  mentions.  Of  a  destruction 
of  Jerusalem,  moreover,  not  a  word  is  said,  but  only  of  capture  and  ravage.  And  it  is  to 
be  observed  that  the  hostile  attitude  of  Edom  is  by  no  means  a  state  of  things  first  pro- 
duced by  the  Babylonian  destruction,  and  before  unheard  of.  In  Joel  also  (iv.  19),  and 
Amos  (i.  11  ff. ;  ix.  12),  precisely  as  here,  Edom  appears  as  an  enemy  of  Judah,  deserving 
double  chastisement  on  account  of  his  originally  fraternal  relation  to  Israel.  It  would  be 
plainly  incongruous  to  refer  all  these  predictions  just  cited,  and  which,  for  the  most  part,  wear  a 
very  distinctly  liistorical  aspect,  to  the  incidental  position  which  Edom  occupied  two  cen- 
turies later  in  the  Chaldaean  catastrophe  ;  the  more  incongruous  because,  from  the  time  of 
Moses  onward  (Num.  xx.  14  ff.),  the  attitude  of  this  neighbor  nation  toward  Israel  was,  ac- 
cording to  the  historical  Books  also,  hostile  up  to  the  full  measure  of  their  strength  (1  Sam, 
Kiv.  47 ;   2  Sam.  viii.  14  ;   1  K.  xi.  14  ff.  ;   2  K.  viii.  20,  etc.). 

The  same  is  to  be  said  of  Obadiah  also.      As  he   belongs  to   the   first  period   of  writtea 


INTRODUCTION. 


prophecy,  not  only  from  the  correspondences  above  noticed,  but  also  from  the  fact  that  th« 
later  prophets  presuppose  him  as  having  gone  before  (cf  under  the  head  of  Theological  and 
Ethical),  nay,  even  expressly  quote  him  (Joel  iii.  5;  ii.  32,  cf  Obad.  17),  he  cannot  hav( 
had  the  Chaldaean  destruction  for  his  pcint  of  view,  for  what  he  says  of  devastation  is  nol 
prophecy,  but  palpable,  detailed  description,  which  is  plainly  distinguished  from  the  pro- 
phetic verses,  and  therefore  relates  to  the  past.  And  even  if  we  give  up  the  hermeneutical 
rule  that  every  prophetic  utterance  must  rise  from  a  given  historical  situation,  be  called  forth 
by  some  manifestation  of  God's  rule  in  the  history  of  the  kingdom  ;  if  we  concede  that, 
irrespective  of  any  historical  occasion,  and  purely  by  the  force  of  inspiration,  Joel  may  have 
foreseen  the  participation  of  the  Edomites  in  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  with  all  its  par- 
ticular features ;  still,  it  is  certainly  inconceivable  that  he  should  have  placed  this  incidental 
circumstance  so  conspicuously  in  the  foreground,  while  the  main  fact  which  should  have  nat- 
urally cast  down  him  and  his  people  to  the  ground,  in  the  prospect  of  it,  namely,  the 
destruction  itself,  and  the  chief  enemy,  the  Babylonians,  were  treated  as  such  obviously 
familiar  circumstances,  mere  scenery  and  a  starting  point  for  the  threatening  against 
Edom.  Thus  fall  also  the  opinions  which  place  Obadiah  in  the  early  times  indeed 
(under  Uzziah),  but  still  will  not  give  up  the  reference  of  his  prophecy  to  the  catastrophe  of 
588  B.  c.  (Hengstenberg,  Havernick,  Caspari.)  The  event  which  by  its  iniquity  has 
called  for  the  judgment  announced  by  Obadiah  is,  rather,  one  contemporary  with  himself,  one, 
therefore,  accomplished  in  the  earlier  times  by  the  Edomites  against  Jerusalem,  which  he  has 
personally  witnessed,  and  on  which  the  other  prophets  of  that  age  also  look  back  in  the  ap- 
posite passages  of  their  writings. 

When  we  inquire  more  specifically  into  the  nature  of  this  transaction,  it  is  not  that  re- 
corded in  2  Chr.  xxv,  23  f.  (Vitringa,  Carpzov,  Kiiper),  nor  in  2  Chr.  xxviii.  5  ff.  (Jager). 
In  both  of  these  instances  it  was  not  foreigners  who  desolated  Jerusalem,  as  Obadiah  assumes 
to  have  been  the  case  (ver.  11),  but  principally  the  Ephraimites.  It  is  rather  the  capture  of 
Jerusalem  under  Jorara,  mentioned  2  Chi*,  xxi.  16  f,  cf.  2  K.  viii,  20  ff.  (Hoffmann,  De- 
litzsch,  Nagelsbach).  Here  we  are  told  that  the  Philistines  and  Arabians  (a  collective  name 
with  the  later  historical  writers,  for  the  peoples  living  east  and  south  of  Judah),  came  up  and 
carried  away  great  treasures,  and  even  took  among  the  captives  the  princes  of  the  royal  fam- 
ily. This  event,  which  harmonizes  far  better  than  the  Chaldaean  invasion  with  our  prophecy, 
inasmuch  as  it,  Hke  Obadiah,  intimates  notliing  of  a  destruction  of  Jerusalem  and  annihila- 
tion of  the  national  existence,  but  only  plunder  and  rapine,  this  event  alone  can  have  been 
in  the  thoughts  of  Joel  and  Amos  when  they  reproach  the  Philistines  (Joel,  iii.  [iv,]  6  ;  Am.  i. 
6  ff.)  with  having  delivered  over  the  captives  of  Judah  and  sold  them  into  a  foreign  land.  On 
account  of  this  transaction  the  Edomites  are,  in  the  view  of  these  prophets  also,  national  foes. 

If  now,  on  the  one  hand,  Obadiah  coincides  with  them,  especially  with  Joel,  precisely  in 
these  connections,  in  several  passages  (vers.  10,  11,  15,  cf  Joel  iii.  [iv.]  19,  3,  7,  14),  and 
that  not  at  aU  as  a  borrower,  but  as  leading  the  way  (ver.  17,  cf  Joel  ii.  32  ;  iii.  5),  and,  on 
the  other,  Joel  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  contemporary  of  Joash  (877  ff.),  we  may,  without 
danger  of  essential  mistake,  ascribe  our  prophecy  to  the  preceding  decade  (890-880),  falling 
mostly  under  the  reign  of  Joram.^  That  his  position  in  the  Canon  is  subsequent  to  that  of 
the  later  Joel  affords  no  argument  against  this.  In  fact  we  are  obliged,  from  the  start,  by 
Hosea's  leading  place  in  the  series,  to  abandon  the  untenable  hypothesis  that  an  accu- 
rately observed  chronological  principle  can  be  discovered  in  the  succession  of  the  minor 
prophets;  and  the  exact  adaptation  of  our  prophet  to  Amos,  cli.  ix.  12,  gave  sufficient 
occasion  (as  Schnurrer  had  already  perceived),  for  assigning  to  him  just  this  place. 

From  this  settlement  of  the  date  a  beautiftil  and  self-consistent  structure  of  the  prophecy 
offers  itself.  According  to  the  peculiar  custom  of  the  prophets  to  begin  with  the  threatening 
(or  the  consolation),  and  afterwards  adduce  the  explanation  of  it,  the  discourse  before  ua 
falls,  first,  into  the  announcement  of  the  judgment  (vers.  1-9),  and  the  reasons  for  it  (vers. 
10-16)  ;  to  which  then  the  conclusion  demanded  by  the  nature  of  prophecy,  the  announce- 
ment of  salvation  to  Israel,  is  appended.  The  language  is  the  same  throughout,  and  the 
plan  rounded  and  complete.  Thus  the  suppositions  of  Ewald  and  Graf  (Jeremiah)  fall  to 
the  ground.  According  to  them  vers.  1-9  should  be  regarded  as  the  old  prophetic  kernel 
which  a  prophet  of  the  exile  has  rewrought,  completed,  and  adapted  to  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem. 

1  In  harmony  with  this  conclusion,  we  may  venture  the  conjecture,  that  our  prophet  is  identical  with  that  pioiu 
Qba'/iah  whom,  with  others,  Joram's  father  .lehoshaphat  had  sent  out  to  revive  the  spirit  of  true  worshju  in  the  laud 
fcy  t-Tt  explanation  of  the  law  (2  Chr.  xvii.  71. 


OBADIAH. 


LuTHEK :  Obadiah  gives  no  sign  of  the  time  in  which  he  lived,  but  his  prophecy  relate? 
to  the  time  of  the  captivity,  for  he  comforts  the  people  of  Israel  with  the  promise  that  they 
shall  come  again  to  Zion.  Especially  does  his  prophecy  issue  against  Edom  and  Esau,  who 
cherished  a  special,  everlasting  envy  against  the  people  of  Israel  and  Judah,  as  is  wont  to  be 
the  case  when  friends  fall  out  with  each  other,  and  especially  when  brothers  come  into  hatred 
and  hostility  toward  each  other ;  there  the  hostility  knows  no  bounds.  Therefore  were  the 
Edomites  beyond  all  bounds  hostile  to  the  people  of  Judah,  and  had  no  greater  joy  than  to 
look  on  the  captivity  of  the  Jews,  and  gloried  over  them,  and  mocked  them  in  their  grief 
and  misery.  How  the  prophets  almost  all  upbraid  the  Edomites  for  such  hateful  malice,  sea 
on  Psalms,  cxxxvii.  7.  Now  since  such  conduct  is  exceedingly  distressing  when  one,  in^ 
stead  of  comforting  as  one  reasonably  should,  rather  mocks  the  sorrowful  and  afflicted  in 
their  grief,  laughs  at  them,  scorns  them,  glories  over  them,  so  that  their  faith  in  God  suffers 
a  powerful  assault,  and  is  strongly  tempted  to  doubt  and  unbelief,  God  sets  up  a  special 
prophet  against  such  vexatious  mockers  and  assailants,  and  comforts  the  afflicted,  and 
strengthens  their  faith  with  threatening  and  rebuke  against  such  hostile  Edomites,  and  with 
promises  and  assurance  of  future  help  and  deliverance.  That  is  truly  a  needed  comfort  and 
a  profitable  Obadiah.  At  the  close  he  prophecies  of  Christ's  kingdom,  which  shall  be  not  iu 
Jerusalem  only  but  everywhere.  For  he  mingles  all  peoples  together,  as  Ephraim,  Benja- 
min, Gilead,  Philistines,  Canaanites,  Zarpath,  which  cannot  be  understood  of  the  earthly 
kingdom  of  Israel,  since  such  people  and  tribes  must  be  separated  in  the  land,  according  to 
the  law  of  Moses.  But  that  the  Jews  make  Zarpath  mean  France,  and  Sepharad  Spain,  I 
let  pass  and  hold  nothing  of  it ;  yet  let  every  one  hold  what  he  will. 

Literature,  vide  General  Introduction,  p.  45. 

Special  Commentaries.  Hugo  a  St.  Victore  (fll41),  Adnotatt.  elucidatorice  in  Obad- 
•am,  in  his  0pp.  p.  1526.  J.  Leusden,  Obadjah  illustratus  (with  the  Paraph.  Chald.,  the  two 
Masorahs,  and  the  commentaries  of  R.  Isaac,  Abenezra,  Kimchi,  app.  to  the  Joel  illust.  of 
the  same  author),  Ultraj,  1657.  A.  Pfeiffer,  Comment,  in  Obadjam  (with  the  Comment,  of 
Abarbanel),  Viteb,  1666.  J.  G.  Schroer,  Der  Prophet  Obadjah  aus  d.  bibl.  u.  weltl.  Historic 
Erlaiitert,  Bresl.,  1766.  J.  K.  Happach,  Uebemetzung  des  Prnph.  Obad.  mit  Anmerkungen, 
Kob.,  1779.  Ch.  T.  Schnurrer,  Diss.  phil.  in  Obadjam,  Tub.,  1787,  4.  J.  T.  G.  Holzapfel, 
Obadjah  neu  ubersetzt,  Rint.,  1798.  H.  Venemae,  Lectiones  in  Obadjam,  in  Verschuirii  Opus- 
cula,  ed.  J.  A.  Lbtze,  Utr.,  1810.  C.  L.  Hendewerk,  Obadjae  Oracuium  in  Idumoeos,  Reg- 
iom.,  1836.     C.  B.  Caspari,  Der  Prophet  Obadjah,  Leipz.,  1842. 

Special  Treatises.  S.  Ravius,  Spec,  in  Obad.,  1-8,  Traj.,  1757,  4.  Zeddel,  AnnotaU. 
in  Obad.,  1-4,  Hal.,  1830.  Krahmer,  Observatt.  in  Obad.,  Tiib.,  1837.  Fr.  Delitzsoh,  Wh«n 
did  Chad,  prophesy  i  in  Budelbach  and  Guericke's  Zeitschrift,  1851,  p.  91  ff. 


OBADIAH. 


THE  PROPHECY. 

1  Vision  op  Obatiah  : 

Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah  concerning  Edom;* 
We  have  heard  tidings  from  Jehovah, 
And^  an  ambassador  is  sent  torth  among  the  natiooii 
Arise  ye,*  and  let  us  arise  against  her  to  battle  I 

2  Behold,  I  make  thee  small  among  the  nations; 
Despised  art  thou  exceedingly. 

3  The  pride  of  thy  heart  hath  deceived  thee, 
Dweller  in  the  refuges  of  the  cliff, 

His  lofty  habitation  ;  ^ 

Who  saith  in  his  heart : 

Who  will  bring  me  down  to  the  earth  ? 

4  Though  high,^  like  the  eagle, 

And  though  among  the  stars  thou  set  thy  nett^ 
Thence  will  I  bring  thee  down, 
Whispers  JehovahJ 

5  If  thieves  had  come  to  thee,' 
If  robbers  by  night  — 

How  art  thou  destroyed  ! 

Would  they  not  steal  until  they  had  enough? 
If  grape  gatherers  had  come  to  thee, 
Would  they  not  leave  gleanings? 

6  How  is  Esau  searched  out ! ' 
His  hidden  things  sought  up ! 

7  To  the  border  have  sent  ^°  thee  forth 
All  the  men  of  thy  covenant; 

They  have  deceived  thee,  prevailed  against  thee, 
The  men  that  were  at  peace  with  thee ; 
Thy  bread"  have  they  placed  as  a  snare  under  iheei 
There  is  no  understanding  in  him.^^ 

8  Will  not  I,  in  that  day, 
Whispers  Jehovah, 

Destroy  the  wise  out  of  Edom, 

And  understanding  out  of  the  mount  of  Esau  ? 

9  And  thy  heroes  shall  be  dismayed,  0  Teman, 

That  ^'  every  man  may  be  cut  off  from  the  mount  of  Essa 
By"  slaughter. 

10  For  the  violence  toward  thy  brother  Jacob, 
Shame  shall  cover  thee, 

And  thou  shalt  be  cut  off  forever. 

11  In  the  day  when  thou  stoodest  opposite, 

In  the  day  when  strangers  took  captive  his  anny,^ 


8  OBADIAH. 


And  foreigners  entered  his  gates, 
And  over  Jerusalem  cast  lots, 
Thou  also  wast  as  one  of  them. 

12  And  [yet]  thou  shouldest  not  have  looked  on'^  the  day  of  thy  brother,  on  the 

day  of  his  calamity  ; 
And  not  have  rejoiced  over  the  sons  of  Judah  in  the  day  of  their  destruction ; 
And  not  have  enlarged  thy  mouth  in  the  day  of  distress. 

13  Thou  shouldest  not  have  entered    into    the   gate    of  my  people,  in    the    day  oi 

their  ruin  ; 
Not  have  looked,  thou  also,  on  his  misfortune,  in  the  day  of  his  destruction ; 
And  not  have  laid  hand  on  his  army,  in  the  day  of  his  ruin. 

14  And  thou  shouldest  not  have  stood  at  the  forks. 
To  cut  off  his  fugitives  ; 

And  not  have  delivered  up  his  remnant,  in  the  day  of  distress* 

15  For  near  is  the  day  of  Jehovah  on  all  the  nations ; 
As  thou  hast  done  will  they  do  to  thee ; 

Thy  deed  will  return  upon  thy  head. 

16  For  as  ye  have  drunken  on  the  mountain  of  niyJioliness, 
All  the  nations  shall  drink  continually, 

And  drink,  and  swallow  down, 

And  be  as  though  they  had  never  been.  ^^ 

17  And  on  mount  Zion  shall  be  deliverance,  and  it  will  be  holinettly 
And  the  house  of  Jacob  will  take  their  possessions. 

18  And  the  house  of  Jacob  shall  be  a  fire, 
And  the  house  of  Jose^sh  a  flame, 
And  the  house  of  Esau  for  stubble ; 

And  they  will  kindle  upon  them,  and  devour  them, 

And  there  will  be  none  remaining  to  the  house  of  Esau; 

For  Jehovah  hath  spoken  it. 

19  And  the  south  country  shall  possess  the  mountain  of  Esau, 
And  the  lowlaud  the  Philistines  ; 

And  they  shall  possess  the  field  of  Ephraim, 

And  the  field  of  Samaria  ; 

And  Benjamin  [shall  possess]   Gilead. 

20  And  the  captivitj^  of  this  army  of  the  sons  of  Israel, 
Who  [are  among  the]   Canaanites,  as  far  as  Zarepath,^* 
And  the  captivity  of  Jerusalem  who  are  in  Sepharad, 
ShiJ]   possess  tlie  cities  of  the  south. 

21  And    saviors  shall  go  up  on  mount  Zion, 
To  judge  the  mountain  of  Esau. 

And  the  kingdom  shall  be  Jehovah's. 

TEXTUAL   AND  GRAMMATICAL. 

[1  Ver.  1.  —  No  decisive  reason  appe;ir.s  lor  so  unusual  a  thing  as  separating  this  familiar  phrase  from  the  foUowlng 
context,  and  making  it  a  supplementary  title.  True,  it  is  supeificially  inconsistent  that  Jehovah  ehould  here  be  repT»- 
Bented  as  saying  that  the  prophet  and  people  have  heard  from  Jehovah.  But  this  rhetorical  difiaculty  is  remedied  by 
the  obvious  explanation  that  the  meaning  of  the  formula,  "  thus  saith  Jehovah,"  is,  "moved  by  Jehovah,  I  say."  So 
Maurer,  Hitzig,  and  others.  -  Tr.] 

[•2  Ver.  1.  —  Our  author  takes  T   =:  "  that  "  or  "  to  wit ;  "  Luther  :  doss.     This  may  be  so,  cf  Ges.  Lex.,  p.  268,  6, 

bnt  not  necessarily.  The  1  may  Im  ■=  et  jam.  "  We  have  heard  tidings  from  Jehovah  [that  Edom  is  to  be  attaekedj, 
and  already  is  an  ambassador  sent  forth.'"  By  whom  the  messenger  has  been  sent  is  left  to  our  thought ;  probably  by 
rehovah.  —  Tr.] 

[3  Vei  1  — Strictly  all  tlie  D^13  were  heathen  to  the  Jews,  and  whether  the  term  carries  uith  it  a  special  seil2<e  of 
profiineness  and  barbarity  is  not  always  clear.     Here  there  is  no  reason  for  supposing  it.  —  Tb.] 

[4  Ver.  1.  —  The  language  of  the  me.isenger  to  the  nations.  This  seems  better  than  to  understand  it  as  spoken  by  th* 
prophet  and  his  countrymen  to  each  other.  —  Tb.] 

[6  Ver.  3.  —  ii^2lZ7  Ci~ip,  lit.  "height  of  his  habitation,"  in  apposition  with  27yP""^13n,  and  dir.  ol^.  d 
'<32C''.     The  sudden  changr  to  the  third  person  of  the  suf.  expresses  more  strongly  the  prophet's  scorn.  —  T».] 


THE  PROPHECY. 


[6  Ver.  4.  —  Q^ti?  is  dependent  On  (^''2121^  i"  th^  previous  member,  so  that  the  latter  serves  the  purpose  of  an  ad 
rerb  :  "  make  high  to  place  "  r=  "  place  high,'"  cf  ?]^3  n'*23n  Job  v.  7,  and  Gesen.  Gram.  §  142,  4,  Rem.  1  Each 
word  may  be  thought  as  a  complement  to  the  other,  in  the  respective  clauses,  adding  Tj3p  in  the  first.  —  Tb.] 

[7  Ver.  4.  —  ^"^  DM3.  To  find  an  expression  for  this  formula,  which  shall  be  rhetorically  satisfactory,  is  not  easy, 
and  yet  we  are  bound,  in  translation,  to  distinguish,  if  possible,  between  it  and  the  nearly  eiiuivaleat  '^"'  "IttSJ  cf.  G»- 
len.  Lex.  s.  v.  DS3.  —  Tit.l 

-T  -' 

[8  Vers.  5,  6 Dr.  KJeinert,  as  will  be  seen  from  the  Exeg.  notes ,  connects  these  verses  in  one  expression,  uid  Vna»- 

lates  substantially  as  follows  :  — 

Verily,  not  thieves  have  come  to  thee. 

Not  robbers  of  the  night ; 

How  art  thou  brought  to  nought  I 

They  steal  only  what  they  need. 

Not  grape  gatherers  have  come  to  thee  : 

They  leave  still  a  gleaning. 

But  how  are  they  of  Esau  sought  out 

His  hid-treasures  discovered  ! 

De  Wette  and  Maurer  translate  interrogatively  the  first,  second,  and  fifth  members  above  (with  differences  in  other  re 
Bpectg) :  "  Have  thieves  —  have  grape  gatherers,"'  etc.  As,  however,  the  interrogative  use  of  SM,  and  still  more  itt 
strongly  affirmative  use  (apart  from  formulae  of  swearing),  are  rare,  and  since  both  Maurer  and  Eleinerb  admit  that  the 
particle  may  be  taken  here  in  its  usual  (conditional)  .sense,  as  in  the  preceding  verse,  there  seems  to  be  no  necessity  ol 
changing  the  expression  with  which  we  are  familiar  in  the  Eng.  Vers.  The  fifth  verse  thus  represents  the  condition  of 
Edom  as  worse  than  that  of  a  house,  or  a  vineyard,  that  has  been  plundered  ;  and  the  third  clause  is  a  parenthetical  ejac- 
ulation extorted  by  the  view  of  their  wretchedness.  Few  commentators  have  perceived  any  necessity  for  connecting 
Terses  five  and  six  in  one  stanza.  — Tr.] 

[9  Ver.  6.  —  J^ti^Sn^.      The  Plur.  shows  simply  that  ICi?^  is  used  in  the  collective  sense.  —  Tb.] 

[10  Ver.  7.  —  TTSinytt?.     Kleinert  renders  "escorted,"  Absagegekit  gegeben.  —  Tr.] 

[11  Ver.  7.  —  The  figurative  mention  of  "  bread  "  here  has  given  the  commentators  much  perplexity.  We  strongly  in- 
cline to  the  expedient  of  Maurer,  who  would  defer  the  Athnach,  and  connect  rjpn^  with  the  preceding,  "the  men  of 
thy  peace,  of  thy  bread."  Otherwise  there  seems  about  equal  reason  for  making'  ''  bread  "  the  subject  of  the  following 
Terb,  as  Eng.  Vers.  Gesen.  and  many  :  "thy  bread,"  q.  d.  "they  who  ate  thy  bread,"'  "have  placed,"  etc.,  and  for 
making  it  the  object  of  that  verb,  with  Hendewerk,  Kleinert,  and  others  :  "  They  have  placed  thy  bread,"  q.  d.  "  thy 
hospitality  and  confidence,"  "  a  snare  under  thee."  Kleinert  translates,  "  as  thy  bread  they  lay  for  thee  a  snare,"  which 
may  mean,  "  as  the  reward  for  thy  bread." — Tr  ] 

[12  Ver.  7.  —  Kleinert  refers   "12  to  the  snare,  and  translates,  "  To  which  thou  givest  no  heed."     It  is  generally  uq 
derstood,   more  simply,  as  a  sudden,  perhaps  contemptuous  change  of  person  from  the  second  to  the  third.  —  Tb.] 
[13  Ver.  9  —  ^2)^7.    Kleinert  is  singular  in  translating  "  until."  — Ta.] 
[14  Ver.  9.  —  V^pQ  is  connected  with  the  following  verse  by  most  ancient  versions,  and  the  ?J3  here  also  rendered 

"for,"  "because  of."  Maurer,  with  considerable  reason,  so  translates  without  changing  the  position,  making  7lOptt 
the  ground  of  the  preceding  threat.  Dr.  Pusey's  comment  is  correct :  "By  slaughter,  Wt.Jrom  slaughter,  may  mean  either 
the  immediate  or  the  distant  cause  of  their  being  cut  off,  either  the  means  which  God  employed,  that  Edom  was  cut  off  by 
one  great  slaughter  by  the  enemy  ;  or  that  which  moved  God  to  give  them  over  to  destruction,  their  own  slaughter  of 
their  brethren  the  Jews.' '  —  Ta.] 

[15  Ver.  11.  —  i7"^n.  Kleinert  translates  "  treasures,"  which  the  word  in  itself  may  equally  well  bear ;  but  as  "  army  ' 

leems  quite  suitable  to  the  context,  is  probably  referred  to  in  ver.  20,  and  is  here  connected  with  a  verb,  nSlC,  whicli 
almost  always  means,  strictly,  "  take  captive,"  we  adhere  to  the  Eng.  vers.,  with  the  majority.  The  same  remark  ap 
plies  to  the  same  word  in  ver.  13.  — Tb.] 

[16  Ver.  12.  —  Kleinert  gives  S^/H,  here  and  in  the  next  verse,  by  "feed  upon,"  dich  weiden,  like  Eng.,  "to  feast 
one's  eyes  "  on  anything.  Noyes  translates,  "  look  with  delight."  But  this  interpretation,  if  correct,  may  as  naturally 
be  suggested  by  the  simple  English  equivalent  "  behold,"  or  "  look  upon,"  as  by  the  Hebrew.  —  Tb.] 

[17  Ver.  13.  —  On  i  V^'H  cf.  above  note  15,  on  ver.  11.     Kleinert  renders  71371 2t?7/n  "  reach  after."—  Tb.] 

[18  Ver.  16  —  ^"n  si  v3,  Zunz,  happily  :  wie  Niegeivesene,  =  Ka0o>soi  (jlt)  vnap^avTei  :  "  as  those  who  never  were." 
-Tr,]  ^  ■ 

[19  Ver.  20.  —  Kleinert,  in  this  locus  vexalus,  makes    3  "1I1I7S,  and  what  follows,  the  subject,  supplying  the  verb  "  b« 

come,"  and  iH/S  the  predicate,  be  translates  thus:  "  Captives  of  this  army  of  the  sons  of  Israel  shall  the  Phoeniciana 
become,  as  far  as  Sarepta  ;  •'  lit.  "  what  Phoenicians  there  are  unto  Sarepta."  This  keeps  close  to  the  Hebrew  if  it  be  per- 
mitted to  supply  the  two  verbs  "  to  become  "  and  "  to  be,"  neither  of  which  is  countenanced  by  the  context.  Neglect- 
ing this  (which,  besides,  leaves  us  perplexed  why  Sarepta,  in  particular,  should  be  the  limit  of  the  future  conquests),  we 
may  either  borrow  the  verb  "  possess  "  from  the  preceding  sentences,  or  from  that  which  follows,  thus  :  "  The  captivity 

.  .  .  [shall  possess]  what  [belongs  to  the]  Canaanites  unto  S.,"  in  which  case  the  absence  of  jlK  to  mark  the  obj.,  in 

Jiis  sentence  atone  of  tlie  seven  before  and  after,  is  hard  to  explain  ;  or  we  may,  supplying,  from  "IIDDSI  in    the  paral- 

M  member,  the  prep.  )2  with  C^3^33,  make  this  whole  clause  a  part  of  the  subject  of  the  following  "  possess,"  uid 
k*nsl»te  a«  is  done  in  the  text ;  so  Pusey      Maurer  comes  near  it  in  the  main  sens*. 


10 


OBADIAH. 


EXEGETICAL   AND   CRITICAL. 

I.  The  judgment  upon  Edom,  vers.  1-9.  —  Ver.  1. 
I  he  title  designates   the  chapter  as  a  Vision  of 

Jbadiah.  ^*1Tn  is  not  merely  a  single  vision  (Is. 
txix.  7),  but  the  result  of  the  views  of  the  prophets 
!D''Tn,  Mic.  iii.  7  ;  Is.  xxix.  10),  in  the  wiflest 
?ense,  embracing  both  species,  the  vision  in  the 
waking  state,  and  the  prophetic  dream  (Num.  xii. 
6) ;  hence  used  elsewhere  also  in  the  inscriptions 
to  prophetic  records  (Nah.  i.  1),  and  even  to  entire 
collections  of  prophecies  (Is.  i.  1 ).  The  second  title, 
Thus  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah  concerning  Edom 

(cf.  [/"concerning"]  Judg.  ix.  54),  which  also 
Btands  unconnected  with  the  following,  is  an  em- 
phatic epexegesis  to  the  "  vision." 

The  propliecy  itself  begins  with  the  brief  state- 
ment of  what  God  has  decreed  :  A  rumor  have 
we  (i.  e.,  the  people,  not  merely  the  prophet,  as  in 
Jer.  xlix.  14)  heard  firom  Jehovah,  therefore 
through  the  medium  of  prophecy  (cf.  Am.  iii.  7  ; 
2  K.  vi.  12)  ;  and  a  messenger  is  sent  among 
the  heathen  nations  (the  connection  by  "  and" 
as  often  with  vv.  sentiendi,  Zach.  vi.  1)  :  Rise  ye, 
and  let  us  rise  against  her  to  battle.  Not  only 
when  God  summons  the  heathen  to  the  decisive 
contest  with  his  people  (Joel  iv.  9),  but  also  when 
they  are  obliged  to  perform  his  judgment  against 
a  people  belonging  even  to  their  own  circle,  does 
this  war-message  which  is  sent  forth  among  them 
proceed  under  his  direction.  They  are  even  called 
in  this  case  his  sanctified  ones  (Is.  xiii.  3),  as  Cyrus 
is  named  in  such  a  mission  the  anointed  of  God 

(Is.  xlv.  1).  The  reference  of  rjT"'.??  to  Jerusalem 
which,  from  Is.  vii.  1,  seems  the  more  obvious,  as 

the  feminine  construction  of  DnS  nowhere  else 
occurs,  is  expressly  excluded  by  the  quotation  in 
Jer.  xlix.  14.  Verses  1  and  2  stand,  accordingly, 
not  in  a  relation  of  opposition,  but  of  climax. 

Not  his  people  does  Jehovah  summon  against 
Edom,  but  heathen  nations.  In  this  lies  the  mis- 
erableness  of  his  fate,  that  he  should  (ver.  2)  take 
among  his  associates  the  place  of  a  despised  and 
humbled   enemy ;   behold,   I  make   thee   small 

among  the  heathen  (i^Sn  with  the  participle, 
the  common  form  of  apodeictic  prediction) :  de- 
spised art  thou  exceedingly. 

While  this  picture  of  humiliation  appears  viv- 
idly present  to  the  eyes  of  the  prophet,  he  gives  to 
it  the  signature  :  the  pride  of  thy  heart  hath 
deceived  thee.  Properly  the  emphasis  lies  on  the 
verb ;  betrayed  thee  has,  etc.,  but  through  the 
precedence  given  to  the  sin  which  has  caused  this 
the  ethical  element  in  this  calamit^^  that  h  is  in- 
curred by  guilt,  is  rendered  prominent.  Jer.  xxxvii. 
9.  The  pride  of  Edom  rested  on  the  notion  of 
apparent  unassailableness :  thou  that  dwellest 
(Ges.  §  90,  3  a.)  in  the  refuges  (after  the  Arab. ; 
according  to  LXX.,  Vulg.,  Syr. :    clefts)  of  the 

cliff,  his  lofty  habitation  (^5^  with  the  ace. 
CilT?,  as  in  Is.    xxxiii.  5 ;    in:2ti7    C1"l^,  like 

VVy  ^^r.,  Is.  ix.  5 ;  Ew.  §  287  g.).  "  The  ter- 
ritory of  Edom  was  a  rocky  mountain  mass,  full 
of  caverns,  and  the  Edomites  dwelt,  partly,  in  tiie 
natural  caves  there  found  (hence  the  eai-lier  inhab- 
itants of  Mount  Seir  were  called  C-'lin,  t.  e., 
ir ojf lody tes,  cave-dwellers,   Gen.   xiv.  6;  Deut.  ii. 


12,22),  partly  in  abodes  artificially  hewn  out  of 

the  rock."  Caspari.  Jerome  (on  v.  6) :  "  Revere 
omnis  australis  recjio  IdumcBwum  de  Eleutheropolt, 
usque  ad  Petram  et  Halam    in  specuhus  habitatiun 

cuius  hahet."  Pliny:  "  Peira  (=V^D,  the  capi- 
tal, )_/«/<  oppiduin  circumdatum  montibus  inaccessis." 
Compare,  on  the  hardly  approachable  position,  and 
the  peculiar  impression  given  by  the  sight  of  the 
city  hewn  out  of  the  rock,  also  Rosenmiiller,  Bibl 
Aiterthiimskunde,  iii.  76  fF.  ;  and  specially  C.  Rit 
ter,  Erdhinde,  xiv.  1108  ff.  [Robinson,  Stevens], 
That  sayest  in  thy  heart :  Who  will  bring  me 
down  to  the  earth  ?  i.  e.,  no  man  can  do  it.  And 
yet  there  is  one  who  can. 

Ver.  4.  Though  high  like  the  eagle,  and 
though  between  the  stars  thou  set  thy  nest 

(D"*Ci7  is  an  infin.  dependent  on  rT^^Sn,  and 
C  W  n^22n,  "  to  place  high,"  like  H^b  VTIll 
"to  walk  humbly,"  Ew.  §  280  c),  from  thence 
will  I  bring  thee  down,  saith  Jehovah.  The 
hyperbole  of  the  first  member  of  the  ver5.e,  and  the 
threatening  of  the  second,  became,  from  this  time 
on,  standing  formulas  to  express  human  pride  and 
divine  retribution  (Am.  ix.  2  f  ;  Is.  xiv.  13  ff.). 

Since  the  humiliation  of  Edom  is  decreed  by 
God,  it  will  exceed  all  the  experience  of  men,  and 
all  analogy  with  their  proceedings.  —  Vers.  5,  6. 
VerUy,  not  thieves  have  come  to  thee,  not 
robbers  of  the  night ;  —  how  art  thou  brought 
to  nought !  They  steal  only  so  much  as  they 
need  ;  while  thieves  leave  unilisturbed  that  which 
is  of  no  value  to  them,  Edom  is  utterly  destroyed. 
Not  grape-gatherers  have  come  to  thee,  they 
leave  gleanings ;  but  how  are  those  of  Esau 
searched  out !  his  hid  treasures  discovered  I 
We  follow,  in  the  main,  the  view  of  Chr.  V, 
Michaelis,  Jager,  Ewald,  Caspari,  who  (in  oppo- 
sition to  Kimchi,  Marck,  Rosenmiiller,  Hendewerk, 
De  Wette,  Maurer,  Umbreit,  Hitzig,)  recognize  an 
ascending  contrast  between  the  sentences  beginning 

with  CS,  and  those  with  "n"*^-  But  this  cannot 
fully  appear  if  we  retain  the  conditional  sense  of 

D^?.  It  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  strengthening  parti- 
cle of  negation  (Ew.  §  356  a.  ;  [Ges.  Lex.  s.  v. 
C.  1,  c.    Cf.  Fiirst]).     Our  translation  notices  also 

that  the  rhetorical  questions  with  SwH  stand  in 
an  affirmative  sense.  (Literally,  we  should  have 
to  translate:  If  thieves  had  come  to  thee,  would 
they  not  have  taken  what  they  need  ?  etc.i)  The 
ruin  of  Edom  is  too  complete  to  be  ascribed  to 
human  causality,  to  the  depredation  of  robbers,  to 
an  overthrow  as  if  reapers  had  come  over  the  har 
vest ;  it  is  God's  pitiless  work. 

But  truly  God  has,  as  ver.  1  already  indicated, 
judged  with  divine  irony ;  the  heathen,  Edom's 
own  allies,  have  become  his  instrument:  those  who 
were  bound  (Gen.  xxv.  24)  to  render  aid  have  for 
saktu  the  unhappy  people,  deceived,  betrayed  them 

Ver.  7.  To  the  border  have  they  escorted 
thee,  all  thy  confederates,  "  Quos  de  pitendo 
contra  hoste.m  auxilio  legatos  mittes,  socii  recusa- 
hunt  admiltere,  suisque  Jinibus  excedere  jnhehunt, 
met.u  hostium  tuormn,  quos  lacessere  verebimtur,'' 
(vSchnnrrer.)  "  Mos  antiqmis,  qui  ctiani  nunc  obtinet, 
u'.  princlpes  honoris  causa  deduci  cnrent  legatos,  cum 
discedent  ad  limites  ditionis  slice."  (Drusius.)  So 
Edom  himself  lis.  xvi.  1,  2)  thrusts  out  from  his 
capital,  Sela,  the  Moabites  who  have  sought  refuge 
there,  with  their  cattle,  into  the  wilderness,  and 

1   fCf.  the  Textual  and  Gramuiatical  note  on  ver.  6  —  Ta. 


THE  PROPHECY. 


n 


bids  them  seek  protection  in  Judah.  They  have 
deceived  thee,  prevailed  against  thee,  the  men 
who  were  at  peace  with  thee  ;  thy  bread  have 
they  placed  as  a  snare  under  thee ;  although 
pledged  by  their  alliance  to  hospitality,  they  press 
thee  with  hostile  treachery  (cf.  on  the  comparison 
with  bread,  Hupfeld  on  Psalm  Ix.  5) ;  thou  con- 

siderest  it  not.  The  "12  is  to  be  referred,  with 
Hitzig  (similarly  Luther),  to  the  snare. 

Prudence  is  wanting,  for,  ver.  8,  "Will  not  I  in 
that  day,  —  it  is  the  word  of  Jehovah,  —  de- 
stroy the  wise  out  of  Edom,  and  understanding 
out  of  the  moiint  of  Esau  ?  It  is  God's  way  to 
change  the  wisdom  which  is  estranged  from  Him 
into  its  opposite  (Is.  xix.  11  ;  xxix.  14;  Jer.  xlix. 
7).  — Eor  the  first  time  in  prophecy  we  here  meet 

with  the  solemn  H^nn  DVn,  the  designation  of 
the  judgment  day  ;  here,  it  is  true,  only  in  a  ger- 
minal form,  so  to  speak,  in  finite  relations,  and 
without  the  eschatological  addition,  which  accrues 
first  in  the  later  prophetical  development. 

Ver.  9.  And  as  the  wise  become  fools,  so  the 
heroes  dispirited;  And  dismayed  shall  be  thy 
heroes,  O  Teman.  Teman,  according  to  Jerome, 
in  the  Onomast.,  and  on  Am.  i.  12,  was  a  special, 
and  that  the  southern,  part  of  Edom,  which  here, 
according  to  poetical  usage,  could  the  better  stand 
for  the  whole  land,  since  the  association  of  ideas 
in  ver.  8  would  lead  precisely  to  the  Temanites 
celebrated  for  their  wisdom  (Jer.  xlix.  7).     Until 

(]y^7,  like  'iva,  in  the  N.  T.,  stands  not  always 
in  a  purely  final  sense,  but  introduces  a  result 
which  necessarily  follows  from  the  inward  nature 
of  a  thing,!  jjog^  yiii.  4;  Am.  ii.  7;  Ps.  li.  6 
[4j),  every  man  is  [that  every  man  may  be]  cut 
oflF  from  the  mountain  of  Esau,  by  slaughter. 

1^  of  the  efficient  cause,  as  in  Gen.  ix.  14  [Gesen. 
Lex.  p.  582  d.].  With  the  impressive  phrase,  "  by 
slaughter  "  closes  the  delineation  of  the  threatened 
judgment :  vers.  8  and  9  complete  the  denuncia- 
tion proper,  for  which  the  opening  formula,  "Thus 
saith  Jehovah  "  (ver.  1 ),  has  prepared  us,  and  which 
has  hung  suspended  through  all  the  intervening 
discourse.     Then  follows  — 

II.  Vers.  10-16.  The  statement  of  the  reasons  why 
God  will  and  must  execute  this  terrible  judgment. 
A  logically  argumentative  discourse  would  have 
inferred  from  the  present,  in  connection  with  the 
interior  laws  of  divine  providence,  the  tragical 
future  of  Esau  ;  propliecy  sees  the  future  first,  and 
from  that  descends,  in  explanation,  to  the  roots 
which  this  future  has  in  the  events  of  the  present. 

For  the  violence  (]^,  as  in  Is.  liii.  5,)  toward  thy 
brother  Jacob  (gen.  obj.,  as  in  Joel  iv.  [iii.]  19). 
In  spite  of  the  old  fainily  feud,  the  consciousness 
of  relationship  between  Edom  and  Israel  had  never 
been  extinguished,  and  was  sanctified  by  the  law 
(Deut.  xxiii.  7  f ).     Shame  shall  cover  thee,  and 

tnou  Shalt  be  cut  off  forever.  The  word  H^D 
is  designedly  chosen  ;  it  denotes  the  extermination 
demanded  by  God's  will  and  law  (Lev.  xxii.  3). 
'  Vers.  9  b  and  10  c  are  limited  by  2  c  to  this 
sense,  that  a  fewEdomites  shall  yet  (perhaps  those 
who  have  beforehand  avoided  the  contest  by  flight ; 
for  all  those  present  at  the  time  of  the  contest 
shall,  according  to  9  b  and  18,  fall  without  excep- 
tion) remain  and  constitute  the  extremely  enfee- 

oled  people.    The  n~lDn  is  therefore  a  destruction 
1  Cf.  Textual  and  Grammatical  on  yer.  9. 


of  them  as  a  people,  or  rather,  according  to  ver.  2  a 
as  a  numerous,  strong  people ;  cf.  Is.  vii.  8 ;  Jer. 
xlviii.  42,  47."     Caspari. 

Ver.  1 1 .  In  what  did  that  iniquity  consist  1  In 
the  day  when  thou  stoodest  opposite,  sc.  against 

thy  brother ;  the  suff".  in  1  '■'^^  is  anticipated  as 
the  object ;  in  the  day  when  foreigners  carried 
away  his  treasures  (Is.  x.  14;  2  Chr.  xxi.  17), 
and  strangers  entered  his  gates  (Joel  iv.  [iii.] 
(17),  and  cast  lots  over  Jerusalem,  i.  e.,  over  the 
population,  whom  they  distributed  among  them  by 
lot,  to  sell  into  slavery  (Joeliv.  [iii.]  3),  thou  also 
wast  as  one  of  them. 

In  a  series  of  particular  charges  (ver.  12  ff".),  the 
hostile  disposition  of  Edom  is  depiteted.  The  im- 
perfect stands  in  these  complaints  for  that  which, 
in  the  mind  of  the  prophet,  ought  in  the  past  to 
have  been  done  or  avoided  (Ew.  §  136  g;  cf.  Job 
X.  18;  Gen.  xx.  9).  Hitzig  supposes  that  in  such 
connection  the  unabbreviated  imperf.  must  have 
stood;  but  in  the  examples  cited  by  him,  the  co- 
hortative  (prohibitive)  turn  of  the  thought  is  want- 
ing, which  is  here  so  plainly  manifest.     By  this 

turn  also  the   'S  is  justified,  which  Caspari  urges 

against  our  view.     In  Gen.  xx.  9,  S  7  must  stand 

instead  of  ^S,  because  there  a  transgression  of  a 
law  sanctified  by  custom  and  hereditary  derivation 
is  spoken  of. 

[There  is  room  for  doubt  about  the  propriety  of 

translating  S^ri"  vS,  and  the  other  futures  pre- 
ceded by  ^W,  in  this  and  the  two  following  verses, 
as  in  the  pluperfect  subjunctive.  Dr.  Pusey,  who 
strenuously  maintains  that  the  prophecy,  although 
delivered  soon  after  the  time  of  Joel  and  Amor, 
contemplates  directly  the  Chaldtean  catastrophe, 
denies  that  these  phrases  can  be  so  translated. 
"  It  is  absolutety  certain,"  he  says,  "  that  al.  with 
the  future  forbids  or  deprecates  a  thing  future.  In 
all  the  passages  in  which  al  occurs  in  the  Hebrew 
Bible  it  signifies  '  do  not.'  We  might  as  well  say 
that  '  do  not  steal '  means  '  thou  shouldest  not  have 
stolen,'  as  say  that  veal  tereh  and  do  not  look  means 
'  thou  shouldest  not  have  looked.'  ....  We  must 
not,  on  any  principle  of  interpretation,  in  a  single 
instance,  ascribe  to  a  common  idiom  a  meaning 
which  it  has  not,  because  the  meaning  which  it  has 
does  not  suit  us."  Minor  Prophets,  ji.  228.  He 
accordingly  translates  :  "  And  look  not  on  the  day 
of  thy  brother,"  etc.,  as  though  the  prophet  were 
simply  dehorting  the  Edomites,  near  two  hundred 
years  in  advance,  from  cruelty  to  their  brethren,  the 
Jews,  at  the  destruction  of  their  city  by  Nebuchad- 
nezzar !  Maurer  translates  to  the  same  purport : 
"  Ne  spectes,"  etc.,  but  for  an  opposite  reason.  He 
supposes  the  prophet  to  be  speaking  at  a  time  sub- 
sequent to  the  destruction  of  the  city,  to  prohibit 
further  outrages,  which  were  likely  to  be  continued 
and  repeated,  long  after  the  main  calamity.  Zunz 
also  renders  in  the  same  sense  :  "  Thou  shouldest 
not  (again)  feast  thy  eyes,"  etc.  {Aber  du  sollist 
dich  nicht  (wieder)  weiden,  etc.).  Kleinert,  while 
justifying,  in  the  exegetical  notes,  the  view  ex- 
pressed in  the  Eng.  Vers.,  adopts  a  rendering  mid- 
way between  that  and  Dr.  Pusey's :  "  Thou 
shouldest  not "  (apparently  as  a  general  depreca- 
tion) "  feast  upon  the  day,"  etc.  This  is  probably 
very  near  the  grammatical  sense,  yet  does  not 
seem  to  give  the  true  spirit  of  the  passage  so  well 
as  the  version  with  which  we  are  familiar.    And> 

grammatically,  although  vS,  ynih  he  fut.,  every- 


12 


OBADIAH. 


where  else  meant  deprecation  of  what  was  in  pros- 
pect, still  it  can  hardly  be  denied  that,  whatever 
was  the  prophet's  actual  relation  to  the  outrages 
which  he  forbids,  he  views  them  in  ver.  lie,  and 
in  ver.  15  b,  as  already  past;  and  what  is  the 
sf)irit  of  deprecation  of  anything  thought  of  as 
past  but  a  declaration  that  it  ought  not  to  have 
been  done.  "  Thou  shouldest  not  do  (or  do  not) 
what  thou  hast  done,"  is  in  effect,  "  thou  shouldst 
not  have  done  it." — Tb] 

yer.  1 2.  And  yet  thou  shouldest  not  feast  thy 

eyes  (HSl  with  3,  behold  with  pleasure)  on  the 
day  (7.  e.,  evil  day.  Job  xviii.  20)  of  thy  brother, 
even  because  the  sufferer  was  thy  brother ;  on  the 

day  of  his  calamity  LT^^^J,  of  his  fate,  strange 
and  proceeding  from  the  estrangement  of  God  (Is. 
xxviii.  21);  and  shouldest  not  rejoice  over  the 
sons  of  Judah  in  the  day  of  their  destruction, 
and  shouldest  not  make  great  thy  mouth,  to 
utter  mockeries  (Job  xix.  5),  in  the  day  of 
distress;  (ver.  13)  shouldest  not  enter  into 
the  door  of  my  people  in  the  day  of  their 
destruction;  shouldest  not  feast  thy  eyes, 
even  thou,  on  his  misfortune  in  the  day 
of  his   destruction ;  and   shoiildest  not  reach 

(properly,  stretch  out  the  hand ;  "f"*  is  omitted, 
as  in  Ps.  xviii.  12 ;  2  Sam.  vi.  6  ;)  after  his  treas- 
ures, in  the  day  of  his  destruction.  —  The  form 

nDH  vtt7n,  a  much  ventilated  crux  interpretum,  is 
as  Ew.  pp.  435,  537  f.  rightly  remarks,  not  to  be 
regarded  as  a  3d  fem.,  according  to  Judg.  v.  26 ; 
Is.  xxvii.  1 1 ;  xxviii.  3 ;  and  he  has  also  rightly 
given  up  the  punctation  —  channah  previously  pro- 
posed By  him,   after   the  Arab,   modus   energicus. 

We  find  the  ending,  n3,  as  a  cohortative  strength- 
ening appended  to  the  imperat.  sing,  also  (Is. 
xxxii.  9),  where  the  daughters  of  Jerusalem,  as 
representing  the  whole  people,  are.  addressed  in  the 

.-ingular.     Whether  the  n3,  as  in  "i^^^i  2  Kings 

XX.  3  (=  ns — rrS),  is  identical  with  the  cohort. 

f^5'  which  can  also  follow  the  verb  with  negative 
applications  (Judg.  xix.  23),  or  whether  it  is  a 
He  paragogicum  strengthened  by  the  nasal  (in  the 
2d  pers.,  also  Job  xi.  17),  must  remain  unsettled. 
Aben  Ezra  (of.  Drusius,  Hitzig)  holds  an  omitted 

"'T^^T  *°  ^^  ^^®  snbj.,  and  the  form  a  3d  pers.  plur. 
used  reflexively ;  both  equally  improbable.  Not 
less  so  Caspari  s  recourse  to  the  Arab,  ending  na, 
of  the  2d  pers.  sing.  fut. ;  Olsh.,  §  226  c,  cuts  the 

knot,  and  reads  "T"^  nbtt^n. 

Ver.  14.  And  thou  shouldest  not  stand  at 
the  fork  of  the  road,  where,  close  by  the  gate, 
the  ways  part,  which  the  fleeing  Jews  would  take, 
to  cut  o£F  his  fugitives;  and  shouldest  not 
dehver  (others :  "  shut  in,"  but  cf.  Deut.  xxiii. 
16)  those  that  remained  of  his  in  the  day  of 
distress.  "  Hoc  gravissimum  est  et  summam  mcdevo- 
lentiam  arguit,  miseros  ac  aerumnosos  komunciones, 
qui  fuga  vitam  servare  quoerunt,  prodere  et  hostibns 
ad  necandum  tradere."  Ilosenm.,cf.Am.  i.  9.  There- 
fore can  the  retribution  for  the  failure  of  fraternal 
duty  not  be  withheld,  and  the  manner  of  its  accom- 
j)lishment  will  be  according  to  the  divine  jus  tal- 
lonia  (Ps.  xviii.  20  ff.). 

Vers.  15,  10.  For  near  is  the  day  of  Jehovah, 
which  always  follows  the  day  of  the  sinner  (cf. 
Joel  iv.  with  ch.  i.  ff.),  upon  aU  the  nations. 
Already  now  the  announcement  of  the  day  of  God, 


which  in  ver.  8  has  entered  into  the  prophecy,  ex- 
tends its  compass  to  that  of  a  universal  judgment. 
As  thou  hast  done,  will  they  do  to  thee  ;  thy 
deed  will  return  upon  thy  head  ;  the  deed  which 
goes  against  God  falls  back  again  upon  the  doer, 
as  an  arrow,  shot  perpendicularly  upward,  on  the 
head  of  the  archer  (Geier  on  Ps.  vii.  17). 

Ver.  16.  For  as  ye  have  drunk  (taken  part  in 
the  wild  revelr}-  of  the  destroyers  (Joel  iv.  3))  on 
the  mountain  of  my  holiness,  which  I  have  made 
my  holy  possession  (Ps.  Ixxiv.  2  ;  iu  6),  and  the 
desecration  of  which  I  must  accordingly  avenge, 
so  shall  aU  the  nations  —  the  discourse  applies 

now,  as  the  plural  DHTlti?  has  already  indicated 
an  extension  of  the  field  of  vision,  to  all  the  ene- 
mies of  God,  including  those  who  have  served  the 
special  purpose  of  chastisement  to  Edom  (ver.  I) 
—  drink,  nameh',  the  cup  of  wrath  and  trembling 
from  the  hand  of  God,  which  He  will,  in  the  final 
judgment,  extend  to  them  before  the  walls  of 
Jerusalem  (Zech.  xii.  2  ;  Is.  xix.  17  ;  xxix.  9  f . ; 
li.  17,  22;  Ps.  Ix.  4;  Ixxv.  9).  Thus  also  the 
Chald.  paraphrase:  As  ye  have  rejoiced  over  the 
blow  which  has  fallen  on  my  holy  mountain,  all 
the  peoples  will  drink  the  cup  of  punishment  from 
me,  continually ;  yea,  they  shall  drink  and 
swallow  down,  with  full  draught,  "  and  that  not 
because  they  desire  it,  for  the  drink  is  very  bitter, 
but  because  they  must."  Gasp.  And  wiU  be  as 
if  they  had  not  been ;  kuX  ftrovrai  Kadcbs  ovx 
virapxovTes.  LXX. ;  shall  be  completely  destroyed. 
"  Cocceiiis  illud  esse  quasi  iion  fuissent,  exponit  per 
gentium  conversiones,  quae  specialius  declarantur  in 
aliis  prophetiis,  imprimis  in  Daniele  et  Apocalypsi 
(Num.  xxiv.  24).  Sed  clariim  est,  in  prioribus  jam 
memorari  gentium  poenani  et  spectare  hoc  quasi  non 
fuissent  ad  ipsam  libit ionem  tanquam  ejus  proprium 
effectum,  non  auiem  merum  consequens."     Marck. 

III.  Vers.  17-21.  Messianic  Application:  the 
final  salvation  of  Israel.  Where  in  this  storm- 
flood  of  the  final  judgment  will  the  ark  be?  ver. 
17.  But  upon  mount  Zion  will  be  dehverance 
( Jer.  XXV.  35  ;  others  :  a  company  of  rescued  ones ; 
Is.  iv.  2),  and  it  shall  be  holy,  God's  sanctuary, 
fenced  about  by  God  (Zech.  ii.  9),  as  once  Sinai 
(Ex.  xix.  12  f.),  unapproachable  to  the  strangers 
(Joel  iv.  17)  who  have  profaned  it  (ver.  16),  a  sure 
place  for  those  who  belong  to  God  (Joel  iii.  5). 
And  the  house  of  Jacob,  the  Jews,  those  over 
whom  the  lot  had  been  cast  by  their  destroyers, 

shall  possess  their  possessions :  tt7"nS5  C?1^ 
eliosen  for  the  play  upon  the  name  Jerusalem  ^  = 
^W  Wyy',  "  peaceful  possession."  That  this 
has  no  reference  to  the  occupation  of  hostile  terri- 
tory  (Jager),   the  suff.   plur.   being  referable  to 

n'^2  rather,  and  Moraschim  the  hereditary  pos- 
sessions of  Israel,  especially  of  Jerusalem,  is  shown 
by  the  whole  syntax  of  the  verse,  and  by  the  con- 
text. 

Then  when  Israel  sits  unassailed  in  his  land  again, 
he  will  arise  against  his  enemies  for  the  divine  judg- 
ment. Ver.  18.  And  the  house  of  Jacob,  t.  e., 
Judah  who  stands  in  the  most  directly  hostile  oppo- 
sition to  the  unbrotherly  Esau  (cf.  ver.  10  with  11), 
win  be  a  fire,  namely,  through  the  burning  zeal 
of  God  who  is  in  him  (Is.  x.  17j  ;  and  the  house 
of  Joseph,  the  now  severe^  kingdom  of  the  ten 
tribes  (Zech.  x.  6),  whose  head  is  the  Josephid© 

1  [On  the  derivation  and  signification  of  the  name  Jerr- 
salein,  vide  on  Josh.  x.  1,  in  this  Commentary,  and  Smttli't 
Dictionary  of  the  Bible,  Art.  Jerusalem.  —  Te.] 


THE  PROPHECY. 


13 


Ephraim,  and  which  at  the  time  of  the  deliverance 
will  have  returned  to  the  unity  of  the  government 
(Hos.  ii.  2),  a  flame;  and  the  house  of  Esau 
stubble  (Is.  V.  24),  which,  as  the  vital  force  has 
forsaken  it,  will  hlaze  at  the  first  touch  of  fire ;  and 
they  will  kindle  upon  them  and  devour  them, 
and  there  will  be  none  left  remaining  to  the 
house  of  Esau ;  as  it  also  did  not  spare  even  the 
escaped  [ver.  14].  Contrast  to  the  case  of  Judah, 
ver.  17.  Whence  all  this"?  For  Jehovah  hath 
spoken  it  (ver.  1).  The  execution  of  the  judg- 
ment will  restore  Israel  to  his  formur  extent  of 
territory. 

Ver.  19.  And  the  south  shall  possess  —  of. 
LXX.,  oi  ev  Ne7ej3,  the  inhabitants  of  the  Negcb, 
the  southern  portion  of  Judah,  extending  to  Idu- 
maea  (Gen.  xx.  1;  Josh.  x.  40;  xv.  26)  —  the 
mountain  of  Esau,  and  the  inhabitants  of  the 
lowland,  which  stretches  in  the  west  of  Judah 
toward  the  Philistines  (Josh.  x.  40 ;  xr.  .3;5 ;  Jcr. 
xxyiii.  13),  the  Philistines;  the  people  put  for 
The  land.  Israel  will  thus  not  merely  receive  his 
moraschim,  his  hereditary  lands  (ver.  17),  but  also 
the  adjacent  country  which  belonged  to  him  under 
David  (cf  Ps.  Ix.).  And  they,  the  same  to  whom 
the  south  and  the  lowlands  belong,  the  men  of 
Judah,  will  possess  the  field  of  Ephraim,  and 
the  field  of  Samaria ;  so  that,  after  the  union  of 
the  tribes  presupposed  in  18  a,  the  dominion  re- 
turns to  Judah  [Gen.  xlix.  10),  and  Benjamin 
will  possess  Gilead.  The  whole  Land  is  brought 
back  to  the  house  of  David  by  the  two  tribes  which 
have  remained  true  to  it  (Jer.  xxxii.  44). 

Ver.  20.  And,  to  crown  the  triumph,  captives 

unto  this  army  {T^  /2  and  /H  in  the  archaic  style, 
A-Jthout  vowel  letters,  Olsh.  §  39  d.)  of  the  sons 
of  Israel,  the  twelve  tribes  united  under  the  lead- 
ership of  Judah,  will  become  the  Phoenicians 
which  there  are  even  to  Zarephath  (Sarepta)  ; 
the  Phoenicians  who  have  taken  part  in  the  shame- 
ful attempt  of  Edom  against  Jerusalem,  by  the 
sale  of  Jewish  captives  into  slavery  (hence  called 

by  the  equivocal  name  □'^32733,  Joel  iv.  6 ;  Am. 
i.  9),  will  now  themselves  become  prisoners,  so 
that  the  whole  district  as  far  as  Sarepta,  to  which 
point  the  word  of  prophecy  was  carried  by  Elijah 
(1  K.  xvii.  9,  10),  will  be  cleared  of  the  heathen. 
An.d  the  captivity  of  Jerusalem,  i.  e.,  the  cap- 
tives from  Judah,  who  are  in  Sepharad,  will 
possess  the  cities  of  the  south,  whose  inhab- 
itants meanwhile  have  seized  the  mountain  of  Esau 
(ver.  19).  Sepharad  is  a  region  in  the  west  which 
is  mentioned  also  in  the  cuneilbrm  inscriptions ;  by 
the  ancients  supposed  to  be  Spain,  but  rather,  jjcr- 
haps,  Sardis  (Lassen,  Hitzig),  or  Sparta  (Delitzsch). 
The  last  supposition  is  favored  by  the  tact  that 
Joel  names  the  lonians,  the  Greeks  in  general,  as 
the  people  to  whom  the  Phoenicians  have  sold  the 
captive  Jews ;  as  also  on  the  cuneiform  inscrip- 
tions at  Bisutnn,  Sparad  and  Ionia  are  mentioned 
in  immediate  connection. ^  Among  the  transla- 
tions hitherto  proposed  of  this  variously  interpreted 
verse,  two  principally  deserve  notice;  (1.)  "The 
captives  of  this  army  of  the  sons  of  Israel  (namely, 
those  who  are  now  'carried  away')  shall  possess 
what  Canaanites  there  are  unto  Sarepta."    Hitzig. 

But  then  HS  ought  to  stand  before  ~'t^'S.  (2.) 
*  The  captives  of  this  army  who  dwell  among  the 
Canaanites  (or,  are  Canaanites)  unto  Sarepta,  and 
.he  captives  of  Jerusalem,"  etc.      Caspari,  Um- 

1  [See  on  this  name,   Smith's  Dictionary  of  the  Bible, 

»    T.  —  TE.] 


breit.     But  CS^^^  without  a  verb  cannot,  like 

"TfD^,  in  Ps.  cxx.  6,  be  an  accus.,  and  to  take  it  as 
a  predicate  results  in  nonsense.'^ 

Ver.  21.  And  there  will  come  up  saviors,  nol 
divine  beings,  for  these  would  descend  from  above, 
but  the  heroes  who,  through  the  deeds  spoken  of 
in  ver.  17  if.,  have  gained  for  the  people  their  righta 
(cf.  Micah  v.  4,  5 ;  Neh.  ix.  27),  on  mount  Zion, 

to  judge  the  mount  of  Esau.  D3ti^  is  the  usual 
exjn-essioii  for  the  dispensation  of  justice  in  the 
uainc  of  Jehovah;  the  judges  are  called  inter- 
changeably, C^t^^ptr;  and  C''l?"'t£''l>3  (J-idj.  '"i.  9, 
15;  i.  16,  18).  The  accus.  stands  here  not,  as 
usually  (Ps.  xhii.  1 ),  for  that  to  which  right  is  se- 
cured, but  for  that  in  which  an  example  of  justice 
is  exhibited.  And  the  kingdom  shall  be  Jeho- 
vah's. Chald. :  And  the  kingdom  of  Jehovah  will 
be  manifested  over  all  the  lands  of  the  earth.  Ps. 
xxii.  29  ;  Is.  xxiv.  23. 

DOCTRINAL   AND   ETHICAL. 

The  judgment  of  the  world  presupposes  the  sep- 
aration between  God's  congregation  and  the  world, 
and  is,  as  an  objective  ciisis,  the  final  consequence 
and  manifestation  of  this  inner  discrimination  al- 
ready experienced  (cf  John  iii.  18  f.).  The  world- 
power  is  the  necessary  complement  to  the  commu- 
nity of  the  saved.  It  is  not  given  by  an  original 
antithesis  to  the  kingdom  of  God,  but  has  developed 
itself  with  the  latter  from  the  same  natural  ground, 
and  at  the  first  stood  in  a  fraternal  relation  with  it. 
Now,  howe\  er,  it  stands  in  an  independent  isolation 
over  against  it ;  and,  as  lies  in  the  very  nature  of 
the  case,  the  original  connection,  like  a  sting  cleav 
ing  to  the  conscience,  has  served  only  to  increase 
the  alienation.  The  opposition  has  in  all  points 
amounted  to  polarization  :  the  kingdom  of  God  in 
prostration,  the  world-power  in  secure  defiance ; 
the  kingdom  of  God  in  humUity,  this  in  pride ; 
this  in  possession  on  the  earth,  that  without  pos- 
sessions on  earth,  but  having  a  refuge  in  the 
heavenly  Jerusalem;  this  only  an  object  of  the 
divine  decrees,  but  that  possessing  the  knowledge 
of  these  decrees  through  the  information  of  the 
prophets.  God's  decree  is  the  completion  of  hif? 
kingdom,  and  so  the  removal  of  its  enemies. 
Hence  the  necessity  for  the  judgment  on  the 
world  which  takes  place  in  the  legal  fonu  of  the 
talio,  the  penalty  exactly  adequate  to  the  crime  : 
the  punishment  of  the  world-power  corresponds  to 
its  sins,  and  its  conduct  towards  the  congregation 
of  God.  If  the  harmony  in  the  order  of  the  world 
is  to  be  restored,  a  revolution  of  the  existing  most 
unreasonable  relation  must  take  place ;  the  world- 
power  is  stripped  cf  its  possessions,  the  congrega- 
tion acquires  them,  —  that  despised,  this  highly 
esteemed.  This  j  idgmeut  is  already  indicated  in 
the  nature  of  sin ;  it  executes  itself  so  soon  as 
God  once  allows  i^  development  to  its  final  result, 
and  his  saviors  on  Zion  establish  what  has  been 
actually  given.  What  is  true  they  establish  in 
continuance  ;  what  is  naught,  because  it  is  againsi 
God,  they  cast  into  annihilation.  In  prophecy, 
this  plurality  of  saviors,  compared  with  the  one 
Saviour,  represents  the  same  prelimr/iary  stage  as 
is  signified  in  the  history  by  the  previous  period 
of  the  judges,  compared  with  the  monarchy. 

Obadiah  (comp.  the  Introd.)  occupies  chronologi 
cally  the  first  place  among  the  prophetic  writers 

2  [See  Textual  and  Grammatical  ;<a  this  vene.  —  Ts.] 


14 


OBADIAH. 


and  at  once  fits  into  the  total  orjjanism  of  recorded 
prophecy.  For  in  this  we  may  distinguish,  accord- 
ing to  the  relation  between  God  and  the  world- 
power,  four  periods :  that  in  which  the  world  is 
represented  by  the  neighboring  nations  (Obad.,  Joel, 
Amos) ;  the  Assyrian  (Hosea,  Isaiah,  Micah,  Na- 
hum)  ;  the  Bahyhvian  (Hnhakkuk,  Jer.) ;  the 
universal,  cschatological  (E/.ek.,  Hag.,  Zach.,  Dan- 
iel). In  each  of  those  stages  the  preceding  is 
included  anew,  as  Edom  by  Isaiah ;  and  thus 
Assyria  can  appear  still  to  Zachariah  as  repre- 
pcntatire  of  the  world.  Egypt  goes  from  the 
patriarchal  age  through  all  the  periods  as  type 
of  the  world,  und  in  allusion  to  the  primitive  his- 
tory (Gen.  xi.)  Babylon  appears  as  such,  in  con- 
nection with  Assyria,  even  in  Isaiah's  time.  That 
in  the  first  period,  among  the  neighboring  peoples, 
Edom,  in  particular,  stands  forth  energetically  in 
the  foreground,  has  its  reason  (apart  from  the  spe- 
cial liistorical  occasions  stated  in  the  Introd.)  in 
the  entire  scheme  of  the  national  history.  Edom, 
as  is  manifest  from  the  evidences  before  given,  is 
exactly  fitted,  as  the  brother  nation  of  Israel,  to 
appear  by  preference  as  representing  the  attitude 
of  the  world  toward  the  kingdom  of  God  ;  and  in 
the  relation  of  the  patriarchs  Esau  and  Jacob  is 
given  the  prototype  of  the  historical  development 
which  ends  in  the  remarkable  situation  where  the 
Edomite,  Herod,  thiough  his  malicious  mockery 
of  the  true  Israel,  Jesus,  invokes  the  judgment  on 
his  own  head  and  race. 

It  lies  in  the  nature  of  the  case,  that  the  historico- 
dogmatical  intimations  in  Oinidiah  were  of  funda- 
mental importance  for  the  later  development. 
Leaving  out  of  view  numerous,  perhaps  accidental, 
allusions,  we  still  find  an  extension  of  the  ideas  of 
Obadiah  in  Is.  xxxiv.  6.'5 ;  Jer.  xlix.  7  If . ;  Ezek. 
XXV.  12  ff.,  35,  in  all  which  passages  the  prophecy 
concerning  Edom,  reaching  beyond  the  simple  his- 
torical framework,  gains  more  and  more  of  an 
eschatological  character,  and  Edom  becomes  a  type 
of  arrogant  defiance  against  God.  Hence  the  fur- 
ther coincidences  :  the  judgment  upon  pride  (Obad. 
2,  comp.  with  Is.  ii.  12ft'.;  xiv.  2  ft".)  ;  the  impos- 
sibility of  escape  from  God  (Obad.  4,  comp.  with 
Am.  ix.  2  fl[.);  the  completeness  of  his  judgment 
(Obad.  6  comp.  with  Micah  vi.  14  ft'.;  Jer.  xlii. 
15  ft".)  ;  the  destruction  of  wisdom  out  of  a  people 
which  God  judges  (Obad.  8,  comp.  with  Is.  xix. 
11  ft'. ;  Jer.  1.  36).  The  denunciation  :  for  near  is 
the  day  of  Jehovah  (ver.  15,  in  Joel  i.  15  ;  ii.  1  ; 
iv.  15;  Is.  xiii.  6;  Zeph.  i.  7;  Ezek.  xxx.  30). 
The  accurately  correspondinu  penalty  (ver.  15 
comp.  with  Jer.  1.  15,  29;  Joel.  iv.  4,  7).  The 
cup  of  trembling  (ver.  16  from  Ps.  Ix.  5  comp. 
with  Is.  Ii.  17  ft".  ;  Jer.  xxv.  26  ft'. ;  Zach.  xii.  2ff'.). 
The  deliverance  on  Mount  Zion  (ver.  17,  comp. 
with  Joel  iii.  5;  iv.  17).  Israel  a  consuming  fire 
(ver.  18,  comp.  with  Am.  v.  6).  The  summons: 
for  Jehovah  hath  spoken  (ver  18,  in  Joel,  Isaiah, 
and  Micah,  nine  times). 

IIoFMANN  :  All  people  shall  succeed  in  captur- 
ing and  misusing  Zion,  but  they  shall  also  be  all 
made  to  taste  the  bitterness  of  their  iniquity,  and 
become  drunk  with  their  intoxicating  wine. 

HENGSTENB^:RG  :  The  nature  of  Edom  is  hatred 
against  the  kingdom  of  God,  whereby  their  call- 
ing upon  the  Lord  and  the  Lord's  calling  them 
is  excluded.  The  individual,  however,  can  leave 
the  community  of  his  people,  and  so  pass  over 
into  the  domain  of  saving  grace,  as  the  example 
of  Rahab  shows.  The  j)rophet  is  to  call  out  to 
the  people  of  the  covenant :  Qapffiire '  iyi)  vfv'iKrtKa 
rhv  K6anav      The  flagrant  discrepitncy  between  the 


idea,  according  to  which  the  kingdom  of  Go(J 
should  be  universal,  and  the  reality,  where  it  if 
thrnst  into  a  comer,  will  be  even  aggravated  her^v 
after.  From  this  corner  also  will  the  people  of 
God  be  thrnst.  But  death  is  the  passage  to  life, 
the  extremity  of  persecution  is  the  precursor  of 
redemption.  The  people  of  God  shall  not  merely 
experience  restoration ;  they  shall  possess  the  do- 
minion of  the  world.  For  the  ungodly  heathen 
world,  on  the  contrary,  their  exaltation  is  the  pre- 
cursor of  destruction.  The  kingdom  will  be  the 
Lord's,  i.  e.,  his  previously  hidden  dominion  will 
now  come  plainly  to  light;  voluntarily  or  by  com- 
pulsion the  people  of  the  earth  will  acknowledge  it. 

Of  t/ie /iiljill inent :  Hikrontmus  :  The  Assyrians 
and  Babylonians  have  held  subject  everything  as 
far  as  the  Propontis,  and  to  the  Scythian  and 
JEgtnn  seas.  If  we  read  the  historians  of  the 
Greeks  and  the  barbarians,  we  shall  say  that  this 
word  of  God  (ver.  15)  was  fulfilled  under  the  As- 
syrians and  Babylonians. 

Kiiii. :  The  fulfillment  of  the  ruin  threatened  to 
the  Edomites  began  in  the  Chaldaean  period.  The 
devastation  of  Edom  by  the  Chaldajans  appears  in- 
disputably from  Jer.  xlix.  7  ff. ;  Ezek.  xxxv.  comp. 
with  Jer.  xxv.  9,  21  ;  Mai.  i.  S.  The  destruction 
of  the  Edomites  as  a  people  was  prepared  for 
through  the  Maccabees  (1  Mace.  v.  3,  65;  Joseph, 
^nf.,  xii.  18,  1;  xiii  9,  1;  xiii.  15,  4).  Having 
thus  ah'cady  lost  their  national  independence,  they 
experienced  their  total  ruin  at  the  hands  of  the 
Romans.  As  resards  the  rest  of  our  prophecy, 
Edom  filled  up  the  measure  of  his  iniquity  against 
Israel,  the  people  of  wonders,  at  the  capture  and 
destruction  of  Jerusalem  by  the  Chaldjeans  (Ezek. 
xxxv.  5,  10  ;  Ps.  cxxxvii.  7  ;  Sam.  iv.  22).  But 
the  fulfillment  of  the  threatening  Keil  cannot  find, 
with  Caspari  and  others,  in  the  subjugation  of  the 
Edomites  through  the  Maccabees,  and  the  destruc- 
tive expeditions  of  Simon  the  Gerasene  (Joseph. 
De  Bell.  .Tvfl.  iv.  9,  7).  For  the  destruction  of 
Edom  and  the  occupation  of  Seir  by  Israel  must, 
according  to  Numb.  xxiv.  18,  proceed  from  the 
Ruler  that  shall  arise  out  of  Jacob,  the  Messiah  ; 
according  to  Am.  ix.  11  f.,  not  until  the  setting  up 
of  the  tabernacles  of  Judah  that  have  fallen  down, 
and  according  to  Obadiah,  on  the  day  of  Jehovah, 
at  and  after  the  judgment  upon  all  peoples,  will  it 
follow.  According  to  this  view,  the  fulfillment  of 
vers.  17-21  can  belong  only  to  the  Messianic  pe- 
riod, so  that  it  began  with  the  establishment  of 
the  kingdom  of  Ghrist  on  earth,  proceeds  with  its 
extension  among  the  peoples,  and  will  be  fully 
accomplished  with  its  final  completion  at  the  sec 
ond  coming  of  our  Lord. 

HOMILETICAL    AND    PRACTICAL. 

The  judgment  of  the  world. 

Introduction :  God  has  announced  it  through 
his  servants  the  prophets  (ver.  1). 

I.  It  strikes  the  haughty  ones  who  despise  God 
(2  a,  c)  and  trust,  (a.)  to  fleshly  supports,  earthly 
reserves,  which  will  not  stand  before  God,  but  be 
destrg|\'ed  utterly  (vers.  2-6)  ;  (b.)  to  human  helps 
which  on  account  of  the  selfishness  of  sinners 
are  converted  into  their  opposite  (ver.  7);  (c.)  to 
human  wisdom  which,  as  opposed  to  God,  becomes 
folly  (vers.  8,  9). 

II.  It  is  awarded  because  of  the  iniquity  perpe- 
trated against  the  people  of  God  :  (a.)  of  the  ma- 
lignant joy  (ver.  12)  ;  (/^.)  of  robbery  and  out 
rageous  violence  (ver.  15) ;  (c.)  of  hatred  so  much 
the  more  fanatical  as  it  was  more  causeless  (ver 


TIIE   PROPHECY. 


15 


14);  (d.)  of  the  stifling  of  conscience  through 
intemperate  appetites  (ver.  16). 

III.  It  ends  with  the  salvation  of  the  people  of 
God  :  (fl.)  HolyZion  becomes  the  gathering  point 
of  tlie  saved  (ver.  17).  (6.)  On  earth  a  tire  is 
kindled  in  the  hearts  of  the  faithful,  which  •burns 
over  the  whole  earth  (ver.  18).  (c.)  The  meek 
will  possess  the  kingdom  of  the  earth  (ver.  19). 
(d.)  The  inhabitants  of  the  earth  become  the 
possession  of  God's  people  (ver.  20  a),  {e.)  On 
the  whole  earth  the  children  of  God  are  gathered  to 
the  congregation  of  God  (ver.  20  h).  (/)  Great 
gifts  are  bestowed  on  God's  congregation  for  the 
guidance  and  deliverance  of  the  congregation  (ver. 
21  a.),  (g.)  There  comes  to  be  one  flock  under 
one  invisible  Shepherd  (ver.  21  b). 

Ver.  1.  The  people  of  God  have  knowledge  of 
his  counsels,  even  concerning  the  heathen  nations 
(cf.  Am.  iii.  3-8).  Hence  prophecy  and  the  holy 
word  embrace  the  whole  world.  —  Ver.  2.  The 
catise  of  the  divine  judgment  is,  from  the  begin- 
ning, the  pride  which  .'^ets  itself  against  God  (Gen. 
xi.  4,  cf  X.  8-10).  —  Ver.  .3.  This  has  fur  its  root 
the  practical  denial  of  God,  the  o]nnion  that  there 
is  none  above  it  (Ps.  xii.  14).  —  Ver.  4.  Sin  is  the 
severance  of  humanity  ;  selfishness  makes  sinners 
the  most  hurtful  enemies  to  each  other.  God 
needs  only  to  let  them  do  as  they  please,  and  they 
fulfill  upon  each  other  his  judicial  will.  — Ver.  8. 
Wisdom,  which  sets  itself  against  God,  confounds 
itself;  those  who  rage  against  Him,  He  makes 
Mind  (Gen.  xix.).  —  Ver.  10.  The  judgment  in- 
creases in  severity,  in  proportion  as  the  special 
sins  against  the  congregation  are  more  aggravated 
in  their  quality.  Edoni,  as  Jacob's  brother,  has 
greater  guilt  than  other  nations ;  Judaism  has 
greater  guilt  through  unbelief  than  the  heathen, 
because  Christ  was  born  a  Jew.  —  Ver.  11  ft".  The 
judgment  will  tear  away  the  veil  from  the  deeds 
which  man  palliates  to  his  own  view,  and  show 
them  in  their  bare  nakedness. — Ver.  15.  God's 
sentence  individualizes :  the  special  tendencies  of 
the  perverted  life  reach  their  respectively  corre- 
sponding ends.  For  believers  the  judgment  day  is 
always  near.  — Ver.  16.  The  law  rests  on  this  :  I 
am  the  Lord  thy  God  ;  prophecy  expands  the  view 
over  the  whole  world.  In  face  of  the  law,  every 
one  has  to  take  heed  to  himself;  in  the  judgment, 
the  relations  of  the  congregation  to  the  whole 
world  will  become  evident;  it  alone  can  be  God's 
attair.  Sin,  in  its  extreme  exagger-ition,  is  itself 
judgment;  his  oivn  sin  becomes  to  the  sinner,  in 
its  enjoyment,  a  loathing,  and  yet  will  hold  him 
with  inevitable  fetters,  to  remain  in  it,  till  it  de- 
stroys him.  —  Ver.  17.  Zinn,  the  jilaee  of  deliver- 
ance;  but  only  as  a  sanctuary,  not  tor  those  who 
after  carnal  birth,  but  those  only  who  through 
God's  grace,  have  a  claim  to  it.  In  them  is  (ver. 
18)  the  flame  which  consumes  everything  Unite; 
from  Israel  proceeds  the  judgment.  Land  and  do- 
minion of  the  true  Israel  must  become  his.  liecause 
it  is  promised  him. —  Ver.  20.  He  who  belongs 
to  the  house  of  God  is  in  the  world  as  a  captive, 
and  will  return.  (Is.  xliii.).  —  Ver.  21.  God's 
heroes  are  saviors,  not  destroyers.  To  Him  be- 
longs the  kingdom  always.  No  one  may  presume 
to  become  his  visible  substitute  in  the  kingdom  of 
God  on  earth. 

Starke  :  The  circumstances  of  Obadiah's  coun- 
try and  family  are  designedly  passed  over,  that  we 
may  not  rest  and  depend  on  the  outward  respecta- 
bility of  men,  but  derive  the  authority  of  such 
prophecy,  and  the  certainty  of  its  issues,  from  God 
*lone      Preachers  must  be,  not  in  name  alone,  but 


also  in  fact,  Obadiahs,  i.  e.,  servants  of  (lod  (1 
Cor.  iv.  1).  No  one  should  take  to  himself  th« 
power  to  teach  in  the  church,  unless  he  be  called 
in  an  orderly  manner.  Although  it  may  appear 
to  human  eyes  that  war  arises  out  of  accidental 
causes,  God  is  at  work  therein.  —  Ver.  2.  As  au- 
thority and  respect  are  a  gift  of  God,  so  is  con- 
tempt a  singular  punishment.  —  Ver.  5.  Those 
who  knowingly  wage  unjust  wars  are  no  whit 
better  than  thieves  and  murderers.  —  Ver.  6  ft". 
True  friends  have  always  been  rare  in  the  world. 
It  commonly  happens  that  God  brings  up  those 
very  ones  with  whom  men  have  entered  into  alli- 
ance against  his  people,  that  they,  out  of  God's 
just  judgment,  may  be  compelled  to  avenge  the 
iniquity  which  has  been  committed  asrainst  God's 
people.  —  Ver.  8  f  The  children  of  the  world  are 
indeed  wiser  than  the  children  of  light,  in  their 
generation,  but  when  they  suppose  they  are  wisest 
of  all,  God  pours  contempt  on  their  endeavors. 
It  is  also  a  gift  of  Go(?  when  those  who  are  at  the 
head  of  land  and  peoplt  are  brave  and  prudent. — 
Ver.  10.  God  is  ill  pleased  when  one  rejoices 
in  another's  aftliction  ;  still  more  so  when  one 
heaps  upon  the  suffering  more  trouble  and  sorrow. 
Men  should  not  mock  the  miserable.  —  Ver.  11. 
An  old,  deep-rooted  enmity  is  not  easily  allayed  : 
Nescit  metam  inivtr.rntnm  nd/vm. — Ver.  15.  The 
retaliation  which  is  administered  by  our  dear  God 
is  a  strong  and  comfortable  evidence  of  his  pres- 
ence. —  Ver.  16.  The  holy  mountain  is  the  Church 
of  the  true  believers.  To  carouse  unon  this,  is  to 
pursue  revelry  in  sinning  against  Christ's  mem- 
bers. God's  judgment  begins  at  the  house  of 
God  ;  I.  e.,  God  seeks  first  his  children  with  the 
cup  of  affliction ;  but  the  enemy  must  swallow  the 
dregs,  and  be  destroyed.  —  Ver.  18.  The  power  of 
the  holy  gospel  is  like  a  fire,  and  God's  word 
sweeps  like  flames,  before  which  the  stubble  o'' 
hypocrisy  and  huiaan  ordinances  cannot  stand. 

Pfaff  :  Ver.  6.  No  punishment  comes  alone 
when  God  attacks  men  with  his  might.  In  war 
many  judgments  come  together,  as  the  spirit  of 
God  here  relates ;  murder,  robbery,  infidelity  of 
friends,  treachery,  unwise  and  futile  counsels, 
despondency  of  the  soldiery,  etc.  —  Ver.  15.  The 
Lord's  vengeance  measures  with  the  same  meas- 
ure ;  take  heed  that  thou  measure  not  with  an  ev'' 
measure. 

Cn.  B.  MiciiAET.s  :  Ver.  1.  It  is  no  empty  re- 
port, but  the  most  certain  of  all,  for  we  have 
heard  it  from  God. —  Ver.  4.  God  makes  possible 
what  to  men  is  impossible. —  Ver.  15.  God  has, 
in  punishment,  as  well  as  in  kindness,  his  horas  f. 
moras. 

F.  Lambert  :  If  any  one  thinks  the  book  of 
Obadiah  too  small,  let  him,  nevertheless,  not 
despise  it.  Often,  the  less  showy  the  vessel, 
the  more  precious  the  contents. —  On  v.  21. 
Now  may  ministers  of  God's  word  take  notice 
who  they  are,  and  what  they  ought  to  do.  It 
would  be  most  appropriate  for  them  to  live  and 
act  conformably  to  their  n;xnic  {-'  Sautor''),  and 
that  can  take  place  only  by  pure,  true  preaching 
of  the  word  of  God  with  fear  and  trembling  ;  for 
through  that  alone  have  we  salvation  in  faith. 
Hence  they  should  see  well  to  it,  that  they  add  not 
their  own  petty,  carnal  inventions,  lest  they  he 
found  corruptors  rather  than  ^^.viors  of  the  faithful. 
Would  that  the  hour  were  come  when,  instead  of 
destroyers,  tlieri'  should  be  nothing  but  saviors  in 
all  the  world.  For  where  such  are  received  anc 
supported,  tlii're  is  uothinir  but  blessing.  For  thci 
gather  ail   the  ehrt   in   the   holy  congregation,  or 


16 


OBADIAH. 


Zion,  so  that  the  dominion  and  all  glory  belongs 
to  the  Lord  and  his  annointed. 

BuRK :  On  ver.  13.  In  an  evil  time  every  one 
robs,  as  be  finds  opportunity,  and  then  throws  the 
blame  of  it  on  the  times. 

ScHLiER  :  On  ver.  10  ff.  Judah  had  deeply 
fallen,  and  little  good  was  to  be  found  in  him,  and 
he  richly  deserved  his  chastisement.  And  yet  God 
allows  not  haughtiness  to  have  its  way  upon  even 
a  deeply  fallen  people ;  He  causes  them  to  be  chas- 
tised, and  sends  nations  as  his  scourge ;  yet  when 
they  exceed  the  proper  bounds,  and  practice  iniq- 
uity, He  undertakes  for  his  people ;  He  remains 
faithful  even  amid  the  unfaithfulness  of  men,  and 
visits  Edom's  wickedness  upon  him,  even  though 
Judah  deserved  the  chastisement. 

RiEGKR.  —  On  ver.  2  ff. :  How  is  he  whom  his 
heart  has  once  deceived  and  seduced  to  haughti- 
ness thus  exposed  to  much  other  deceptions ; 
for  all  the  vanity  with  which  he  supports  his  high 
thoughts  will  betray  him,  and  cannot  save  him 
against  God,  who  resists  the  proud. —  On  ver. 
17  ff.  What  has  the  Lord  Jesus  yet  to  accomplish 
in  heaven  before  all  will  be  brought  back  and 
restored,  so  as  God  has  graciously  predicted  to  his 
servants,  the  prophets !  With  great  sorrow  must 
one  see  the  confusion  which  now  appears  on  the 
earth,  and  how  nothing  but  judgments  seem  to 
await  us ;  but  amid  it  all,  the  promise  of  his 
kingdom  is  our  trust. 

[Matt.  Henry.  —  On  ver.  2  :  Those  that  think 
well  of  themselves,  are  apt  to  fancy  that  others 
think  well  of  them  too ;  but  when  they  come  to 
make  trial  of  them,  they  will  find  themselves  mis- 
taken, and  thus  their  pride  deceives  them,  and  by 
it  slays  them.  —  Ver.  3,  4  :  Carnal  security  is  a 
gin  that  most  easily  besets  men  in  the  day  of  their 
pomp,  power,  and  prosperity ;  and  does  as  much  as 
anything  both  to  ripen  men  for  ruin  and  aggravate 
it  when  it  comes.  —  Ver.  6  :  Treasures  on  earth, 
though  ever  so  fast  locked  up,  and  ever  so  artfully 
hidden,  cannot  be  so  safely  laid  up  but  that  thieves 
may  break  through  and  steal ;  it  is  therefore  our 
wisdom  to  lay  up  for  ourselves  treasures  in  heaven. 
—  Ver.  7  :  Those  that  make  flesh  their  arm,  arm 
it  against  them.  Those  show  they  have  no  under- 
standing in  them,  who,  when  they  are  encouraged 
to  trust  in  the  Creator,  put  a  cheat  upon  them- 
Belves  by  reposing  a  confidence  in  the  creature.  — 
Ver.  8  :  God  will  justly  deny  those  understanding 
U)  keep  out  of  the  way  of  danger,  that  will  not  use 
their  understanding  to  keep  out  of  the  way  of  sin. 
He  that  will  be  fooUsh,  let  him  be  foolish  still. — A 


nation  is  then  marked  for  ruin,  when  God  hides 
the  things  that  belong  to  its  peace  from  the  eyes  of 
those  that  are  intrusted  with  its  counsels.  Quvt 
Deus  vult  perdere,  eos  dementat :  God  infatuates 
those  He  designs  to  destroy.  —  Ver.  9  :  The  death 
or  disuniting  of  the  mighty  often  proves  the  death 
and  destruction  of  the  many ;  and  it  is  in  vain  to 
depend  upon  mighty  men  for  our  protection,  if  we 
have  not  an  almighty  God  for  us,  much  less  if  we 
have  an  almighty  God  against  us.  —  Ver.  11-14: 
In  reflecting  upon  ourselves,  it  is  good  to  com- 
pare what  we  have  done  with  what  we  should  have 
done  —  our  practice  with  the  rule,  that  we  may 
discover  wherein  we  have  done  amiss :  have  done 
those  things  which  we  ought  not  to  have  done;  we 
should  not  have  been  where  we  were  at  such  a 
time  ;  should  not  have  been  in  such  and  such  com- 
pany ;  should  not  have  said  what  we  said ;  nor 
have  taken  the  liberty  that  we  took.  Sin  thus 
looked  upon  in  the  glass  of  the  commandment, 
will  appear  exceedingly  sinfid.  —  We  must  take 
heed  with  what  eye  we  look  upon  the  aftiiclioub  of 
our  brethren  ;  if  we  cannot  look  upon  them  with 
a  gracious  eye  of  sympathy  and  tenderness,  it  is 
better  not  to  look  upon  them  at  all.  —  He  that 
joins  in  with  evil-doers,  and  is  aiding  and  abetting 
in  their  evil  deeds,  shall  be  reckoned,  and  shall  be 
reckoned  with,  as  one  of  them.  — Those  do  but  im- 
poverish themselves  that  think  to  enrich  them- 
.selves  by  the  ruin  of  the  people  of  God ;  and  those 
deceive  themselves  who  think  they  maj  call  all 
that  substance  their  own  which  they  can  lay  their 
hands  on  in  the  day  of  calamity. 

Dr.  Puset. — On  ver.  21  :  And  the  kingdom 
shall  be  the  Lord's.  Majestic,  comprehensive  sim- 
plicity of  prophecy !  All  time  and  eternity,  the 
struggle  of  time,  and  the  rest  of  eternity  are 
summed  up  in  those  three  [Heh.]  words.  Zion  and 
Edom  retire  from  sight ;  both  are  comprehended 
in  that  one  kingdom,  and  God  is  all  in  all.  The 
strife  is  ended  ;  not  that  ancient  strife  only  be- 
tween the  evil  and  the  good,  the  oppressor  and  the 
oppressed,  the  subduer  and  the  subdued  ;  but  the 
whole  strife  and  disobedience  of  the  creature  to- 
wards the  Creator  —  man  against  his  God.  — 
Blessed,  peaceful  kingdom,  even  here  in  this  val- 
ley of  tears  and  of  strife,  where  God  rules  the 
soul,  freeing  it  from  the  tyranny  of  the  world  and 
Satan  and  its  own  passions,  inspiring  it  to  know 
Himself,  the  Highest  Truth,  and  to  love  Him  whc 
is  Love,  and  to  adore  Him  who  is  Infinite  Maje» 
ty!  — Tb.] 


Date  Due 


./"^^   ^'^ 


